Commission finds no irregularities in Yakutsk animal shelter
YAKUTSK. March 13 (Interfax) - An inspection of the animal shelter in Yakutsk where more than 200 cats and dogs were euthanized has shown no irregularities, and the euthanasia was found to be a necessary measure connected to a registered case of the rabies virus, the press service for the head of Yakutia and the government of Yakutia said in a statement on Friday.
"The euthanasia of the animals that were quarantined at the animal shelter in Yakutsk in connection with the threat of the spread of a deadly disease, the rabies virus, was conducted in accordance with the rules," the statement said.
The rabies virus was confirmed by the Yakutsk republican veterinary tests laboratory on March 3. The commission conducting the inspection also commented on the bodies of animals found in a container on the territory of the shelter.
"These are the bodies of animals who were killed on the streets of the city after being run over by cars or who died from illnesses, as well as animals euthanized at the request of their owners (with their consent) due to serious incurable illnesses or the incurable consequences of acute injuries, which were prepared for disposal," the statement said.
Afanasiy Vladimirov, chairman of the commission, said the public was not sufficiently notified by the republic's Veterinary Department, the city's Veterinary Department, and the administration of Yakutsk. Vladimirov recommended that the republic's Veterinary Department continue intensive vaccinations of animals and constantly inform the population of the region as to the results of lab studies to determine antigens to the rabies virus and other illnesses.
The press service for the Yakutsk administration, in turn, said reports were posted on the website of the city administration and on the main popular information websites immediately after the virus was registered and after the first meeting.
City authorities also said the animal shelter has still not received funding from the republic's budget under the federal law On Responsible Treatment of Animals. Besides, members of the commission have found that "there is no documented proof that the animals that were in the container were killed using cruel, inhumane methods."
Volunteers and animal rights activists found a hundred dead dogs and cats in a waste container on the premises of the animal shelter in Yakutsk. The animals' throats had been cut. The animal shelter was quarantined after a stray dog tested positive for rabies. Shelter employees said in a video posted by the volunteers that they were acting on orders from the Yakutia Veterinary Department.
Yakutsk Mayor Sardana Avksentyeva said she had not given instructions to euthanize the animals, noting that she had contacted the police and requested a legal assessment of these actions, and she informed the Yakutsk prosecutor of this. Yakutia's Interior Ministry said that it is aware of the situation and is working to establish all the circumstances of what happened at the animal shelter.
Vladimir Burmatov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection, said work is being done on a parliamentary inquiry regarding the legality of the killing of cats and dogs. Aisen Nikolayev, the head of Yakutia, has ordered a probe into the incident.