Authorities plan demolishing shelter for stray animals in Volgograd

Volgograd authorities plan to demolish a pet shelter located in the territory of a former car park; in case of demolition, 40 homeless animals will scatter around the city, said Lyudmila Churyumova, a zoo defender.

She told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she had organized the above shelter in the Dzerzhinsky District of Volgograd and had been caring for stray animals there for many years.

"The other day, officials arrived and demanded to abandon the territory, explaining that it had been occupied illegally; they stuck resolutions everywhere that the place should be vacated before August 30. We went to the administration; and we were allocated a land plot, but documents thereon are still being drawn up. In order to move there, we need to wait for the end of the paperwork, fence off the territory and set up open-air cages. But the district administration said that they were pressed on by the prosecutor's office. We need a month and a half to move. Yesterday the workers came here and were going to demolish the shelter. I went to the administration; and they promised that there will be no demolition today. We are not asking for money, we ask just for a delay."

Animals live in open-air cages and trailers; there are about 40 of them in total. Dogs are taken to the shelter from streets; sometimes people bring them to the shelter, Lyudmila said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 17, 2019 at 07:07 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.