Protest in Vrancea, after authorities allowed the reopening of the shelter in Suraia, where dogs were killed and tortured

Dozens of activists gathered on Friday afternoon in Suraia, Vrancea County, to protest the fact that the sanitary-veterinary authorities in this county have approved the reopening of the private shelter where accusations of killing and torturing stray dogs were formulated last year. Animal rights defenders say it is not normal for a person under criminal investigation for torturing dogs to be able to continue activities managing them and announce that they will challenge the authorization allowing the private shelter to resume activity in court. Animal rights activists, representatives of specialized associations, and animal lovers gathered on Friday afternoon in front of the Vetmedan shelter in Suraia to protest the decision of the Vrancea Sanitary-Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate to approve the reopening of the private shelter that manages stray dogs and regarding which criminal charges have been formulated. Animal lovers say that after it was established that the shelter in Suraia was an "extermination camp," where stray dogs were killed using public funds, tortured, and kept without food and water, it is not normal for the authorities to approve the reopening of the shelter. "After we succeeded in bringing to public attention last year the horrific images captured in the shelter of horrors in Suraia, where animals were killed in a horrific manner, we were assured by several parties, including representatives of the ANSVSA, that it would never reopen. Now we woke up to find it has been re-authorized, seven to eight months from the moment it was closed. Now it is sanitary-veterinary compliant. For years he was allowed to kill animals, and now he is compliant and authorized. We know what happened there, there is evidence, we cannot turn our eyes away and say we didn't see, we didn't know. We no longer accept the death of animals on public funds. We were able to see in images that besides the animals being killed, they were starved, tortured, and water was sprayed with a hose on the dogs in negative outdoor temperatures," declared for News.ro one of the organizers of the protest, Emma Stratulat, president of the Save our Paws organization and co-founder of the Together for Animals Federation. Three individuals and the company that managed the shelter were placed under judicial control at the beginning of the year. She explained that officials from the DSVSA Vrancea told the protesters that the shelter had been "brought up to standards to be authorized," but also that the same veterinarian who managed the shelter will be in charge of it from now on. Emma Stratulat pointed out that DSVSA officials said the veterinarian's right to free practice is not suspended because he challenged the suspension by the authorities in court, and also that he is only under investigation, not definitively convicted of crimes against the animal protection law. "In the office of the Director of DSVSA Vrancea, where we were invited, the discourse was the one we hear all the time: that they acted according to the law, that they had no choice. I asked to see the authorization issued by the DSVSA. I officially requested the document; we will challenge it in court. We will try to file criminal complaints against each of those who signed this authorization," stated Emma Stratulat. Several animal protection associations, as well as individuals, have leveled serious accusations against the authorities in Vrancea County regarding the shelter in Suraia, where 15,000 animals were allegedly killed. Three individuals and the company that managed the shelter were placed under judicial control at the beginning of the year. Your cookie settings do not allow the content in this section to be displayed. You can update your cookie settings directly from the browser or here – you need to accept social media cookies. Editor: Liviu Cojan