Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, which has come under repeated fire for the alleged mass poisoning and killing of street dogs, has posted a video talking about the friendship between dogs and owners and how to take care of them.
Over the past six years, animal activists have sounded the alarm over thousands of stray dogs missing from Tirana’s streets.
Investigations by activists and journalists have revealed disturbing footage of dogs appearing to be rounded up, placed into vans, and taken to the municipal vet centre in Kombinat. Footage from the centre emerged on social media, showing staff injecting dogs with chemicals to euthanise them, something the municipality denies. However, it constantly refuses to grant access to the facility to activists and individuals from animal rights NGOs.
Thousands more have died on the streets after consuming food laced with poison that activists say was placed there by municipal staff. This poses a significant public health risk as the food is placed in public areas. It has also killed family pets who have come across the food by accident.
Veliaj’s post talks about “my dog, my friend” and how living with a dog is a “relationship of love and responsibility”. It continues that owners should have “cares and obligations towards his most loyal friend”.
Qeni im, miku im 😍🐶
Të jetosh me një katërputrosh 🐕🦺 është marrëdhënie sa dashurie dhe përgjegjësie!🗣Ndërgjegjësojmë mbi kujdesin & detyrimet 🐾që çdo pronar duhet të ketë ndaj mikut të tij më besnik🐕#QeniIm #FamiljaIme #mosbraktisnikafshet pic.twitter.com/YcboQurtfM
— Erion Veliaj #EYC2022 🇪🇺🇦🇱 (@erionveliaj) March 31, 2022
The video shows owners hugging their pets, training them and playing with them.
Deadly Weekend for Tirana Street Dogs as Multiple Deaths Reported From Poisoned Bait
In 2021, a group of animal rights activists filed a report with SPAK, alleging that the Municipality had misused EUR 733,829 of public funds meant to sterilise and vaccinate dogs, and had spent it on poison, with the rest being unaccounted for.
In 2016, between mid-October and the end of December, they stated they neutered 2500 dogs. this would equate to 50 sterilisations taking place every day. Activists say this is not possible in a hospital with two operating rooms. They added the facility could not provide rehabilitation for that number of animals at once.
SPAK did not proceed with the investigation.
Last year, a German Member of the European Parliament questioned how Albania’s EU accession is progressing while street dogs are being rounded up and poisoned throughout the country, including in Tirana.
Martin Buschmann, a member of the Animal Protection Party representing Germany in the European Parliament, has sounded the alarm over the “mass killing of street dogs in Albania.”
In a Facebook post, the MEP writes that “in Albania, street dogs are being mass killed by the government”. As such, he announced he would be filing a written request regarding Albania’s EU accession and meeting criteria.
He notes that Albania must follow EU regulations on animal protection as a candidate.
“Their dead bodies are then disposed of at the municipal dump. We have to assume that thousands of street dogs have died this cruel way in recent years,” he wrote.
The MEP noted that these crimes had been evidenced by video footage, photos, testimony, and investigations, adding that petitions and protests have taken place over the issue.
“How will the prospects of the start of the entry negotiations with Albania be influenced by the fact that Albania seems to be missing any minimum standards in animal protection and for the other the protests of the egg genes being ignored by citizens?”
Buschmann also noted that there are legitimate questions over whether Albania has met the criteria for joining the EU.
“The country continues to struggle with an exhausting reform process. In particular, the EU demands to ensure the functioning of the Constitutional Court, the leading efforts of the judicial reform, combating organized crime and corruption, modernization of public administration and maintaining the human rights,” he wrote.
