On 21st of March, 2014, at around 14.00
o'clock, ASPA, the Romanian authority for the management of stray dogs,
raided a pound located in Bucharest, District 6, run by volunteers under
the supervision of the government paid veterinarian, Bogdan Brasla, as
well as the adjacent clinic of Vier Pfoten.
ASPA confiscated
all dogs they could get hold of. They took 18 dogs - 15 dogs belonging
to VIER PFOTEN and 3 dogs belonging to the volunteers and who were under
the care of VIER PFOTEN at the time of the raid - after they vandalized
their post-operative veterinary clinic. ASPA confiscated also 57 dogs
cared for by volunteers who are being supported by Paws2Rescue, a
charity registered in the United Kingdom, making it a total of 75 dogs.
ASPA broke the lock of the entrance, took the dogs and vandalized the
post-operation paddocks of VIER PFOTEN's veterinary clinic in 6th
District of Bucharest. VIER PFOTEN sharply condemns the illegal and
cruel action ordered by the City Hall of Bucharest and perpetrated by
the ASPA.
The dogs were captured using extremely brutal methods
and taken to the public shelter of Bragadiru. Dogs covered with blood
were dragged in the dust and thrown in cages, all in a huddle. Four dogs
died on spot because of the cruel handling. The animals choked to
death, as catchers intentionally or due to their incompetence tightened
the lace too much while enforcing the animals. Many dogs, even if they
didn't die, were bleeding through their mouth because they had been
manipulated so brutally. Unconscious (or dead) animals were enforced
together with moving animals in small cages. A total of 8 dead dogs has
been reported to us the next day by the volunteers.
ASPA, who
turned up with 13 vans, escorted by the local police, acted very
brutally, breaking the locks of the paddocks before removing the dogs.
They didn't give a reason for their action, nor did they show a document
that would justify or at least explain their brutal intervention, not
even after having been asked several times by the volunteers. The
government paid veterinarian, Bogdan Brasla, who was in charge of the
pound cared for by the volunteers, didn't show up, although the
volunteers asked him several times to intervene or, at least, to come.
Although VIER PFOTEN has a legal contract ongoing with the 6th District
City Hall for the stray dogs neutering project and for the use of the
veterinary clinic and which is valid until April 17, 2014, on Saturday,
the local policemen obstructed the access of VIER PFOTEN representatives
into the paddock.
VIER PFOTEN claim that they have not received any evacuation ordinance up to this date.
"The way the District 6 Hall chose to end their cooperation with us is
inexplicable given that FOUR PAWS has invested its own resources, time
and efforts in this project at the express request of the City Hall. I
sterilized over 3,000 stray dogs during the two-year project in Sector 6
and can not understand this attitude" said VIER PFOTEN coordinator Anca
Tomescu.
Animal protection organizations and citizens recently
reported numerous violations of the new legislation for the management
of stray dogs by local authorities and the situation risks spiraling out
of control, and only a swift and effective government intervention can
stop these abuses, said FOUR PAWS and warned that Romania tolerating
this situation was "out of the map of civilized Europe"
According to the information received from the VIER PFOTEN press center:
- VIER PFOTEN people went to the facility immediately to check the
damage - and because all the dogs were missing - at the police station
to file a complaint against ASPA for vandalism, stealing and illegal
trespassing.
- Another VIER PFOTEN team went to Bragadiru
public shelter to claim the dogs, but the shelter administration
illegally forbid the access in the facility.
-The
representative of VIER PFOTEN on the spot filed a complaint to the
police, about illegal access ban and several law infringements regarding
a clear displaying of the daily activity of the shelter, as mentioned
by the law.
- VIER PFOTEN Romania is starting legal actions
against ASPA for abuse and theft of the dogs from 6’th district VIER
PFOTEN facility.
VIER PFOTEN Romania is starting legal actions against ASPA for breaking the law regarding public access in a public shelter.
- VIER PFOTEN Romania is starting legal actions against ASPA for not
answering to VIER PFOTEN's request filled, in the 30 day-term mentioned
by the law for Public Services.
- VIER PFOTEN Romania is
starting legal actions against district 6 City Hall for breaking the
contract they had with VIER PFOTEN regarding the facility they have in
district 6 in Bucharest.
- VIER PFOTEN Romania is starting legal actions against district 6 Local Police for abuse (law 9/2008)
The videos taken during the raid, of which the first video is a
compilation made by VIER PFOTEN, based on the video material by Ioana
Iordana that you can see in the following videos, are compiled on our
website, at:
http://www.occupyforanimals.org/romania---aspa-raided-a-private-shelter-and-the-adjucent-clinic-of-vier-pfoten-in-bucharest-on-21st-of-march-2014.html
ABOUT THE RAID OF THE SHELTER CARED FOR BY VOLUNTEERS
OFA conducted extensive interviews with the volunteers who run the raided shelter and this is what we have learned:
The shelter, which is cared for by volunteers and supported by a UK
charity, is located on a land owned by the City Hall of Bucharest and is
under the supervision of the government paid veterinarian, Bogdan
Brasla. The volunteers run this shelters since more or less three years.
During this period the supervising veterinarian showed up only 3 times.
The usage of the shelter is for free, meaning that the animal
rescuers don't pay any rent and have also never been asked by the city
hall to pay a rent. A few weeks ago, the supervising veterinarian told
the volunteers that, in order "for the dogs to be safe", they should pay
a rent now and that he would guarantee for the safety of the dogs.
This "proposal" came too late: the volunteers had already rented a farm
to make their very own shelter there and they informed the veterinarian
Bogdan Brasla of it and also of the fact that they would move the dogs
to this farm as soon as possible.
Bogdan Brasla replied that
this was not possible and that the dogs would need to stay in this
shelter until he would have called the ASPA so that they would come and
finalize the registration of the micro chips of the dogs, implemented by
VIER PFOTEN in their clinic.
What the vet Bogdan Brasla told
the volunteers is NONSENSE: the microchips do no longer need to be
registered to ASPA but to the College of Veterinarians.
Anyway... ASPA might argue that since the dogs were in a shelter owned
by the city hall, they were their property, but NOT SO de facto. More
than half of the dogs were brought from two private shelters almost 3
years ago and were dogs that they had raised since they were puppies.
According to the law, the volunteers were allowed to adopt these dogs
from the other rescuers as well as the stray dogs that they found inside
the shelter, almost dying of starvation.
So the volunteers
micro-chipped them all, made their adoption papers ready, and bought the
rabies vaccines while waiting for the ASPA to come in order to finalize
the registration as advised by the ASPA-veterinarian.
And the ASPA came. But not to register the dogs...
Another point that is very important to be mentioned, is that, although
the ASPA veterinarian, Bogdan Brasla, said that the volunteers "should
pay a rent so that the dogs would be safe", no rent has ever been
claimed by the city hall, according to the volunteers. Since the city
hall has never asked for a rent, consequently no rent was due and an
eviction - if we would call the brutal ASPA-raid an "eviction" - was not
justified.
Also, the volunteers has never been asked -
neither verbally nor by written notification - to leave the shelter.
Right the contrary: when they wanted to leave and move the dogs to the
rented farm, the ASPA-vet, Bogdan Brasla, hindered them from doing so by
saying that this was not possible until the micro chip registration had
been finalized by ASPA.
IN SUMMATION
The dogs would have been moved to the rented farm already more than 2 weeks ago if the ASPA-vet had not inhibited this.
When the volunteers returned to the shelter the next day, Saturday, to
take back their cages and other materials, they were denied access by
the corrupt ASPA-veterinarian who now intends to make this his OWN
shelter.
THE FIGHT FOR THE DOGS
Today, Monday, 24th of
March, Ioana, one of the volunteers, returned to the Bragadiru prison,
which serves as a public shelter. Ioana was accompanied by Codrut Feher
as well as some VIER PFOTEN representatives. Present were also ASPA chef
Bancescu, the police, as well as several media representatives.
The shelter management of Bragadiru prison allowed only one person at
the time to enter the shelter and so far, 10.30 o'clock, Ioana managed
to take 3 dogs out of there.
We will update our website as well as our Facebook-page as soon as we receive new information.
http://www.occupyforanimals.org/romania---aspa-raided-a-private-shelter-and-the-adjucent-clinic-of-vier-pfoten-in-bucharest-on-21st-of-march-2014.html
HOW TO HELP:
Please send this information to your media contacts and please write to
the European Union to voice your outrage over the fact that this is
happening in a country, member of the EU.
Please sign the
petition in the following link, calling for an investigation and that
Razvan Bancescu, the head of ASPA, be fired, and please share it with
your friends and contacts.
Thank you very much, in advance.
Please SIGN here: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/attorney-general-of-romania-nitu-tiberiu-mihail-please-investigate-the-actions-of-aspa-bucharest-decided-by-razvan-bancescu-va-rugam-sa-dispuneti-deschiderea-unei-anchete-minutioase-in-actiunile-aspa-bucuresti-ordonate-de-razvan-bancescu#share
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