The 2018 World Cup has begun in Russia and ball sport has become the absolute protagonist of the conversations and leisure time of many people throughout the planet. But what is happening on the Russian streets? It happens that the friendly and intelligent dogs that live in them, living with neighbors and tourists in the 11 Russian cities that celebrate the World Cup, are being killed .
How has it been found out?
The first to publicly sound the alarm was Russian MP Vladimir Burmatov , head of the environmental protection committee, who at the beginning of the year reported that thousands of complaints were being received about a massacre perpetrated in Russian streets against dogs without home . Burmatov pointed to the regional authorities as responsible for having given orders to establish an operation to end the lives of hundreds and hundreds of homeless animals. “We have received many petitions from animal rights activists and supportive citizens who say that mass shootings and euthanasia of stray dogs are taking place in various host cities of the World Cup,” protested the deputy in the Parlamentskaya Gazeta newspaper.
The residents of the towns have come together to report everything that is happening , claiming that the animals are being killed with food and poisoned darts. A Russian shopkeeper named Alina has explained to El Confidencial that she does not understand why her furry friends, who have been coming to the entrance of her store for more than 10 years to ask for food and affection, have not appeared again. Environmental and neighborhood associations such as Open Cages are reporting the situation alleging data such as that the government has hired private companies to exterminate the animals, specifically giving those companies the amount of $ 7 per dog. The government’s excuse? In addition to denying all this and saying that it is a simple rumor, he alludes to the fact that Russia “must appear and be friendlier to celebrate an event of a global and tourist nature.” This is clearly reminiscent of what already happened in 2014 with the Sochi Olympics, when the government called the animals “biological waste” .
It is necessary to report these criminal acts
We are talking about dogs, animals, living beings, which have already suffered abandonment, struggle and adaptation to the cold and harsh streets in their flesh, but, in this case, we are talking about extremely affectionate animals (according to their own Russian neighbors and tourists), accustomed to people and, above all, very intelligent animals that usually take the train to move between towns, interact with people and that have adapted to sub-zero temperatures just because of their own survival.
The problem of animal abandonment in Russia is very remarkable. In the absence of mass sterilization and control policies for these animals (due to the refusal of the Government itself), it is estimated that there are about 2 million abandoned dogs. Neighbors urge that all this could be controlled simply with a policy of sterilization and control. The MP Vladimir Burmatov, in his attempt to publicize the canicide, has reported that the shelters are in the hands of collection and disposal companies where they are “sleeping” the dogs in a massive way, instead of being in the hands of experts in animal welfare that help these animals and improve the current situation.
“This great purge is despicable.” “Thousands of innocent animals are being massively killed”, can be read by any social network.
Call to the World Cup stars to act
The associations that are fighting to stop the canicide have made a statement to FIFA asking it, given the passivity of the Russian government, to do something to stop the massacre. It must be taken into account that in these games world opinion leaders play, with millions of followers such as Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, who do not hesitate to post a photo on their social networks enjoying with their pets. If only some of these athletes showed or warned about what is happening , global opinion would know what is happening outside of football. Likewise, in that same communiqué, the need to insert an animal welfare clause in the country, which does not exist in Russia, has been discussed.
They are not garbage, they are not beings that can be collected and purged , they are living beings that only seek shelter, affection and food. That they are not to blame for living on the streets, that they are not to blame for having suffered abandonment and that they are defenseless against policies like this in which 7.7 million rubles have been invested (which could perfectly have gone to a conditioning center and a castration campaign). They are, in conclusion, mute and defenseless victims in the hands of greed and the very image of a government that denies what happens while their own neighbors see how their dear friends do not return to their places in search of affection, love and home.
