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Ukraine
News Archive: Summer 2003
There's never a dull moment...
There’s never a dull moment in the life of Tamara Tarnawska, president of the Kyiv Society for the Protection of Animals – ‘SOS’ (SPA-SOS). With the continued financial support of Naturewatch Foundation (charitable arm of Naturewatch) Tamara battles on to help the animals. It’s uphill all the way in Ukraine, corruption is rife and progress is very slow but from time to time Tamara’s hard work and persistence is rewarded when real progress is made which gives her the boost she needs to continue the fight for the animals. Limited space prevents us printing a full update about projects in Ukraine and so we have selected a couple of the most interesting issues.
‘Animals in the City’ organisation-AIC(Kyiv’s city-funded animal catching service)
As you will be aware, SPA-SOS has been exerting continuous pressure on the city administration for several years in order to stop the barbaric stray collection methods being used by AIC. Letters have been written by SOS, Naturewatch and supporters, and other animal welfare organisations but, at best, only standard, formal, meaningless replies have been received with many being left unanswered.
Therefore SPA-SOS was left with no alternative other than to attract public opinion to this poignant problem. The first initiative was the making of a video, with the financial help of Naturewatch, that exposed the real activities of AIC (for example, how they use poison to kill animals and the unprecedented corruption within the organisation – the disappearance of US$300,000!) and this was broadcast on Ukraine’s most popular TV channel. The hour-long programme generated an angry response from the public with many protest letters being written to Mayor Omelchenko. The Society followed this by organising two public demonstrations outside the city administration building in the city which successfully engaged mass media attention. The demonstrators demanded an end to the cruel stray collection methods and the liquidation of the AIC organisation.
To extinguish the scandal, the administration was obliged to react. A meeting was held and SOS was asked to present the Society’s position and represent the views of the city community. An investigation was carried out and the two vice-mayors, V Jalovy and V Bidny, were forced to admit publicly that the facts televised in the SOS video had been proven to be true. Mrs N Samofalova, Director of AIC, was dismissed and the administration vowed to reorganise and restructure the AIC organisation. SPA-SOS was asked to be involved with the process from start to finish which is a huge privilege and clearly demonstrates that the organisation is well-respected by the city authorities and confirms progress is finally being made. Proposals made by SOS have been taken on board that will serve to ensure European animal welfare standards are adopted.
Meetings continue to take place to discuss the reorganisation of AIC, the replacement of its managers and the co-operation between the city administration and SOS. We are all delighted that the Kyiv animal protection movement has finally reached a very important turning point.
The city authorities and SPA-SOS plan to hold a joint press conference that will officially launch the new humane programme of stray control by sterilisation and it is hoped that other cities in Ukraine will follow the example being set by the country’s capital city. Finally light can be seen at the end of the tunnel!
Animal Protection Legislation
In June a press conference was held by SOS, together with the two Members of Parliament who are supporting the Bill through the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), to clarify some of the articles included in the bill and to explain the procedure the bill has to pass through before it can be adopted and become law. Among the forty people who attended the press conference were journalists,representatives of the German Union for Animal Protection based in Odessa and groups that are members of the equivalent of our Kennel Club. Much to the surprise of SOS, the Kennel Club members voiced their opposition to certain articles in the bill. Clearly the groups are afraid of breeding regulations being introduced that will undoubtedly have an effect on their income.
The media has taken a huge interest in this issue with interviews taking place for radio, television and newspapers. Following the huge public interest generated by the press conference, the Verkhovna Rada assured SOS that the bill would be submitted for debate at the beginning of July. All was going very well until an emergency situation arose which completely wiped all other issues off the Verkhovna Rada’s agenda. The price of bakery products, sugar and cereals in Ukraine skyrocketed causing widespread panic buying. A number of top officials, including the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, found themselves accused of corruption in relation to the sale of grain. This outrageous situation has driven a group of MPs to call for the resignation of the government. In reply the government has promised that the market will be stabilised, those guilty of abuse of power and corruption will be punished, and prices will return to normal very soon. Although the Verkhovna Rada is in recess until 14th September, SOS still has high hopes to see the bill passed before the end of the year.
SPA-SOS Animal Shelter
We are very pleased to learn that the Society is delighted with the new shelter director who was appointed at the beginning of June. For the first time, the shelter is being run by a women, Natasha, who has excellent organisational and managerial skills and is very keen to make a success of her new post. At the beginning of August she is going to undertake shelter management training in Poland. It is also pleasing to learn that every Saturday representatives of foreign embassies visit the shelter with their families and many of them offer a new loving home to a dog or cat being cared for at the shelter.
