Locked-down citizens say it is impossible to secure permission to walk a dog, let alone feed strays. The measures taken for humans are effectively a death sentence for dogs and cats.
IBT: As coronavirus forces billions of people around the world into lockdown, another sizeable population has also been hard hit — stray animals. While ‘pet owners’ in many countries are still allowed to walk their dogs, thousands of other animals — the exact numbers are unknown — are starving and turning feral. The mass closure of restaurants has also deprived hungry animals of leftover meals, forcing them to take greater risks. For many, the restrictions are tantamount to a death sentence.
“We are seeing an increase in the numbers of cats in areas where we feed, some appear to have been abandoned, while others have roamed far from their usual spots in search of food,” says Cordelia Madden-Kanellopoulou, a co-founder of Nine Lives Greece, a network of volunteers dedicated to reducing the overpopulation of stray cats in Athens and other cities.
According to the municipality, the stray dog population in Athens is put at hundreds while the cats run into the thousands. “It is a huge worry to us that strays could be exposed to more cruelty and poisoning, being more visible and hungrier now, and thus more likely to trust and approach people,” said Madden-Kanellopoulou… In neighbouring Turkey, authorities in Istanbul distribute around a tonne of food for street cats and dogs every day…
Authorities elsewhere in Europe are gradually realising that allowances must be made for stray populations. After Spain went into a nationwide lockdown on March 14, Madrid officials closed down 125-hectare Retiro park in the city centre where around 270 cats live in 19 different colonies. For days, volunteers were not able to enter. City hall authorities eventually allowed them to give food to park gardeners to distribute… Elsewhere in the Balkans, provision is more ad hoc.
In Serbia, where there is no state-organised effort to feed and shelter stray animals, people in several cities and towns have organised help locally. A similar effort is under way in North Macedonia where NGOs are calling on people to leave food on the street for the estimated 10,000 stray dogs in Skopje. In Croatia, about 40 animal shelters which had to close their doors for visitors are imploring citizens not to abandon their pets.
In Albania, locked-down citizens say it is impossible to secure permission to walk a dog, let alone feed strays, so people go out in secret. “These measures taken for humans are effectively a death sentence for dogs and cats,” says Indrit Osmani who heads the Animal Rescue Albania volunteer group. In Bulgaria, veterinary clinics ran an information campaign after pets were increasingly found on the street because their owners thought they may transmit the virus.
There was a similar campaign in Beirut, where Lebanese animal rights groups have reported an increase in abandoned pets. The group, Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, last week said it had received “countless” calls concerning poisonings across the country, mainly around the capital. Last month, it said that the number of abandoned pets had “at least tripled in recent weeks because of the panic” caused by the virus. SOURCE…
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