Stray cats are starving to death
in Belarus basements that authorities have sealed to control rats
According to news reports, city authorities have been sealing off apartment block basements to keep out rats, but as a tragic consequence, cats, who have become trapped inside, are left to waste away. Elena Titova, leader of the animal rights organization Protect Life, estimates that 9,000 cats have been killed in Minsk alone over the past three years.
A stray cat seen through a hole in an iron panel covering a basement window in the Belarusian capital Minsk, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. Municipal authorities in Belarus are walling up stray cats in basements in compliance with Soviet-era regulations, dooming them to death of hunger. Belarus doesn't have shelters for stray animals. Municipal authorities said they wall up doors to basements in line with sanitary norms introduced in 1990, when Belarus was still part of the USSR. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
MINSK, Belarus (AP) - February 5, 2013 - The plaintive meows haunt the people of Minsk in the dead of night. They come, activists say, from hundreds of stray cats who find themselves locked in basements by Belarus authorities — and doomed to starvation.
City authorities have been sealing off apartment block basements to keep out rats. A tragic consequence is that cats get trapped inside, left to waste away.
"My heart aches to hear how the animals, whom they have walled up, are screaming day and night," said 72-year-old Antonina Gayenko, a retiree who was feeding some cats through small holes in the iron plates used to board up the basements.
"They have doomed them to death from thirst and hunger."
Elena Titova, leader of the animal rights group Protect Life, says the authoritarian ex-Soviet nation has no long-term shelters to house stray animals. She estimated that about 9,000 strays have been killed in the capital alone over the past three years.
"Killing the animals with impunity has become a government policy," Titova said Monday. "This barbarian policy can be described as 'No animal, no problem.' They find it easier to kill them as they don't have to build shelters."
Stray animals in Belarus are placed in shelters for five days and then killed by injection when owners don't show up.
City authorities say they must block off the basements of apartment buildings in line with Soviet-era health rules.
"Cats and residents will scream for a while and then they will calm down," said Alexander Yubkov, a city worker who has welded iron covers on basement windows.
He said that if workers did not secure basements, "sanitary officials will come and order us to pay a fine."
Minsk resident Karolina Litvinova said authorities don't bother to check whether there are no animals left in a basement before shutting it.
Residents have drilled bigger holes in the iron plates to allow the cats to escape.
"We have saved five cats that have been walled up," said Litvinova.
"What's so wrong about me feeding the cats?
I feed them using my own money"
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A 72-year-old woman in the Belarusian capital of Minsk has been feeding stray cats to prevent them starving to death in basements of sealed apartment buildings.
City authorities have been sealing off apartment block basements to keep out rats, but as a tragic consequence, cats, who have become trapped inside, are left to waste away.
Antonina Gayenko said she couldn't stand the suffering of the cats holed up inside the buildings, and had come to feed some cats through small holes in the metal plates used to board up the basements.
"No one has chased me away. No one has got angry. There were only three or four cats before. People just said, 'well if the clinic is throwing them out, we'll come and feed them.' What's so wrong about me feeding the cat? I feed them using my own money," she said.
Minsk authorities said they have to block off the basements of apartment buildings in line with Soviet-era health rules.
Local residents said authorities do not check to see whether there are animals left in a basement before sealing it.
Concerned citizens have drilled larger holes in the metal plates to allow the cats to escape.
Belarus has no long-term shelters to house stray animals.
An estimated 9,000 strays have been killed in the capital alone over the past three years.
Stray animals in Belarus are placed in shelters for five days and are then put down by injection if they are not claimed by their owners.
City authorities have been sealing off apartment block basements to keep out rats, but as a tragic consequence, cats, who have become trapped inside, are left to waste away.
Antonina Gayenko said she couldn't stand the suffering of the cats holed up inside the buildings, and had come to feed some cats through small holes in the metal plates used to board up the basements.
"No one has chased me away. No one has got angry. There were only three or four cats before. People just said, 'well if the clinic is throwing them out, we'll come and feed them.' What's so wrong about me feeding the cat? I feed them using my own money," she said.
Minsk authorities said they have to block off the basements of apartment buildings in line with Soviet-era health rules.
Local residents said authorities do not check to see whether there are animals left in a basement before sealing it.
Concerned citizens have drilled larger holes in the metal plates to allow the cats to escape.
Belarus has no long-term shelters to house stray animals.
An estimated 9,000 strays have been killed in the capital alone over the past three years.
Stray animals in Belarus are placed in shelters for five days and are then put down by injection if they are not claimed by their owners.
How to help:
1) Sign the petition:
Chris Wolverton has started a petition at Care2, that we kindly ask you to sign. Please click on the big button below to sign.
Chris Wolverton has started a petition at Care2, that we kindly ask you to sign. Please click on the big button below to sign.
2) Send a letter to the authorities - (letter is based on the one that has been kindly provided by Our Compass)
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Honorable Batura,
Honorable Kukharev,
Honorable Avramenko,
Honorable Markov,
and Honorable Yuditskii:
Please free entombed cats from sealed basements!
I was shocked to learn that cats in Minsk are being inadvertently entombed in basements when the buildings are sealed to keep out rodents. Forcing these animals to die from starvation or dehydration is extremely cruel and unsanitary. Carcasses will cause buildings to smell, upsetting occupants and neighbors while attracting more rodents to the area.
Please free any trapped cats.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent appeal.
[your name]
EMAIL BLOCK:
info@minsk-region.gov.by, mgik@minsk.gov.by, mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by, kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by, kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by
Individual:
The Honorable Boris Batura
Chair
Minsk Oblast Executive Committee
info@minsk-region.gov.by
The Honorable Vladimir Yevguenyevich Kukharev
First Deputy Chair
Minsk City Executive Committee
mgik@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Alexander Sergeyevich Avramenko
Director
Minsk City Executive Committee Department of Housing Policy
mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Viktoria Markov
Deputy Director of Housing
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Natalia Arturovna Yuditskii
Deputy Director of Construction Investment Projects
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Honorable Batura,
Honorable Kukharev,
Honorable Avramenko,
Honorable Markov,
and Honorable Yuditskii:
Please free entombed cats from sealed basements!
I was shocked to learn that cats in Minsk are being inadvertently entombed in basements when the buildings are sealed to keep out rodents. Forcing these animals to die from starvation or dehydration is extremely cruel and unsanitary. Carcasses will cause buildings to smell, upsetting occupants and neighbors while attracting more rodents to the area.
Please free any trapped cats.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent appeal.
[your name]
EMAIL BLOCK:
info@minsk-region.gov.by, mgik@minsk.gov.by, mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by, kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by, kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by
Individual:
The Honorable Boris Batura
Chair
Minsk Oblast Executive Committee
info@minsk-region.gov.by
The Honorable Vladimir Yevguenyevich Kukharev
First Deputy Chair
Minsk City Executive Committee
mgik@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Alexander Sergeyevich Avramenko
Director
Minsk City Executive Committee Department of Housing Policy
mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Viktoria Markov
Deputy Director of Housing
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by
The Honorable Natalia Arturovna Yuditskii
Deputy Director of Construction Investment Projects
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by
