The State Duma proposed introducing fines of up to 200 thousand rubles for owners whose dogs bite people. Vladimir Burmatov, First Deputy of the Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told Znak.com…
In addition, according to Burmatov, the deputies will propose to introduce punishment for “self-walking dogs.” “Owners whose dogs walk unsupervised should also be punished. Today, a dog released to walk on its own will not touch anyone, but tomorrow it can bite someone, scare or attack. Why lead to tragedy? Burmatov says.
The amount of fines for “self-walking dogs”, according to Burmatov, will be determined by local authorities, since changes in this part are proposed to be made to the regional Code of Administrative Offenses.
Vladimir Burmatov also said that on Monday the State Duma will host the first meeting of the working group to address the problem of stray dogs. “We have new challenges, a new problem, that there is a law, but there is no responsibility either on the part of officials or on the part of dog owners. Officials do not fulfill their powers, dog owners do not fulfill their duties,” says Burmatov.
According to him, 1/3 of the regions of Russia “sabotage” the implementation of the law,
do not create an infrastructure for the treatment of homeless animals. As a result, 28 criminal cases were initiated.
The Law on Responsible Treatment of Animals was adopted in December 2018. Previously, regional laws did not prohibit the killing of animals, which angered animal rights activists. Now the only way to regulate the number of stray animals is the OSVV scheme (trapping-sterilization-vaccination-release). Particularly aggressive dogs, according to the law, are prescribed to be kept in shelters until natural death, and an incurable disease of an animal that causes physical suffering is considered the basis for euthanasia.
