On responsible treatment of dogs: The Committee has considered 3 alternative legislations

The issue of people's responsible attitude towards dogs and protecting people from dogs is planned to be resolved in the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic at the legislative level. The Committee on Regional Policy and Housing and Public Utilities has prepared for consideration and submitted to the Committee meeting 3 alternative legislations that are designed to regulate the long-standing problem.

What to do with stray dogs and how to make people take responsibility for animals that are taken and then thrown out on the street. The number of stray dogs increases by the end of winter, beginning of spring. There are more and more reports in the information space about dog attacks on children and adults on the streets of populated areas. The question of what to do has not yet been resolved. Shooting or euthanizing stray animals is prohibited by law. The legislations developed by the deputies should resolve the long-standing dispute between animal rights activists and victims of dog attacks.

The law-in-draft "On the treatment of dogs" was developed by the deputy of the Supreme Council of the PMR Oleg Vasilaty. The initiative received 3 negative opinions. The government – positive with comments.

The Bendery City Council of People's Deputies presented a draft law "On responsible treatment of dogs in the PMR" and 3 accompanying draft laws on amendments to the laws "On licensing of certain types of activities" and "On the basics of the tax system in the PMR", as well as to the Code of Administrative Offenses. The initiative was presented by the head of the Bendery City Council Yuri Kara. According to him, discussions were held with various departments and animal rights activists during the development of the legal act, all comments were taken into account, international experience of requirements for dog owners, the experience of regulating the number of animals in countries such as the USA, France, Canada were studied. A solution to the issue of reducing the number of stray and / or abandoned dogs on the streets is also proposed.

Another legislative initiative belongs to a group of deputies of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic – Galina Antyufeeva, Gregory Dyachenko, Valery Babchinetsky and Andrei Safonov. The parliamentarians developed law-in-draft "On responsible treatment of dogs in the PMR" and a package of accompanying amendments to the laws "On the Fundamentals of the Tax System in the PMR" and "On Environmental Protection". As noted in the explanatory note, the draft law is aimed at regulating legal relations in the field of keeping domestic dogs, protecting them from cruel treatment, regulating the number of dogs in the territory of Pridnestrovie in order to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of citizens of the republic. This draft law takes into account the experience and legislation of various countries, including the Russian Federation.

The legislations of the Bendery City Council and a group of deputies of the Supreme Council received mostly positive opinions, in some cases - with comments.

The deputies present at the meeting of the Committee, the authors of the legislations, official representatives and invitees reviewed all the legislations, asked clarifying questions and listened to speeches. It was noted at the meeting of the Committee that all three draft laws are aimed at resolving the issue of stray animals and introducing the obligation for dog owners to bear responsibility for them. The deputy corps will have to decide which draft law on the treatment of dogs will be taken as a basis and adopted in the first reading, and which legislations will be rejected. The Committee on Regional Policy and Housing and Public Utilities will present its opinion on the choice of the main law-in-draft at the plenary meeting of the Supreme Council of the PMR. The final decision during the vote at the plenary meeting will be made by the deputies of the PMR Supreme Council.