Blood Money or Compassion? How Animal Rights Activists Launched a Crusade in Primorye.

According to an animal rights advocate, often the truly "bad" dogs are not given to those who are willing to care for them at home.

Photo: Ivan MAKEEV. Go to the Photo Bank of KP

Animal rights activist Victoria had been monitoring dogs in her illegal shelter in Primorye for a long time. She then teamed up with Galina, who was also caring for pets and had grown tired of doing it alone. Together, they established a fully legal foundation, but Victoria no longer saw any salary or her own dogs, as reported by "Komsomolskaya Pravda – Far East".

Problems in Paradise

Victoria stated that after the legalization, things became much more challenging: her partner shifted all the dirty work onto her while claiming to manage the finances. At the same time, Victoria asserts that she did not receive an official salary either.

“I have a child to feed. I thought that creating an official foundation would allow me to be employed and receive a salary,” the woman shared. However, how she earned a living before formalizing the operation remains unclear. The woman did not disclose this information either.

Due to the tension in their relationship, Victoria decided to leave the foundation. Shortly thereafter, she wanted to take about 60 dogs she had originally cared for with her. However, her former colleague refused to return them.

“She started threatening me with murder. Galina has a criminal past, so I believed her. I filed a report with the police,” Victoria recounted. But how the animal activist would house the dogs and earn a living also remains undisclosed.

Now, law enforcement will need to investigate the matter: they will examine the legality of the foundation's activities and check Victoria's accusations.

This is Business

Social media users speculated that Victoria may not have been as deprived as she seemed at first glance. Since the income and expense columns are opaque, she could have been spending donations at her discretion. Consequently, people who "donated" (sent money, ed.) out of kindness might have, in theory, been providing her with living expenses.

The founder of the company "Aristocrat" (which is contracted by the Vladivostok administration to catch stray dogs – Ed.) Galina Plutakhina told a correspondent for “KP” that all funds and assistance to homeless animals must be legal.

“We live in a rule-of-law state, which means that in any activity we should rely not on our own ideas and understanding of any activity, but on the regulatory and legislative framework of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the organization of shelter activities and the norms for keeping animals are strictly regulated in Primorye by the resolution of 30.01.2020 No. 67-pp “On Approval of the Procedure for Organizing Shelter Activities for Animals and Norms for Keeping Animals Therein on the Territory of Primorye” and Federal Law N 498-FZ “On Responsible Treatment of Animals and on Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation.”

Since there are legislative frameworks, it means that any shelter must comply with the requirements specified in them. And there can be no exceptions,” Galina Plutakhina clarified.

From the Animal Protection Perspective

A correspondent for “KP” contacted animal rights activist Angelina (name changed – Ed.). She explained that working with animals can be very challenging, and often the owners of shelters and (illegal – Ed.) foundations quickly become exhausted and burned out, which prevents them from providing proper care for the pets, as they become embroiled in a struggle for their own financial interests.

“In the pursuit of money, they seek out the most injured animals, as there is literally a ‘hunt’ for such dogs and cats because they attract the most donations from sympathizers. Hungry ‘abandoned’ ones are not as interesting; they are not ‘money-makers,’” the young woman added. “I had a case with a severely injured dog that was rotting alive, and it needed urgent surgery. In the end, I took photos of it and sent the images to a very well-known shelter in our city, while also paying for the first surgery myself.

When the shelter representatives learned that I had paid for the surgery at an outside clinic, they began to frantically call me to prevent the surgical intervention, claiming they had already sent a vehicle for the dog, but the dog was already being stitched up. Later, people working in this field explained the reason for their sudden loss of interest: a bandaged and non-bloody animal would not gather as many ‘donations’.

According to the animal rights advocate, often the truly “bad” dogs are not given to those who are willing to care for them at home, and hundreds of reasons are found to refuse them. Again, this is to maintain the cash flow.

What Does the Law Say?

So how can we cut the Gordian knot between the monstrous business built on human compassion and genuine care for animals? Analysts believe that clear state regulation of the industry could solve the problem.

“According to the regulatory framework, all shelters must comply with the requirements outlined in these documents. This includes the distance of their location from residential areas, the appropriateness of the land use for specific types of activities, the maximum number of animals that can be kept in shelters at any one time, the number of animals, and the presence of enclosures with doghouses and/or premises with cages, as well as areas for walking. The keeping of animals of different genders (until sterilization) must also be considered.

This document outlines everything, even the quality requirements for floors and walls in the enclosures, the dimensions of the enclosure with the doghouse that has a closed part and a walking area inside. It also specifies the area standards for one dog.

Thus, there is no need to invent anything; one only needs to delve into the legislative acts and implement all the requirements in practice, thereby ensuring the proper care of animals in shelters,” shared Galina Plutakhina.

Staffing, just like all activities of shelters and foundations, should be official, with all the resulting taxes, deductions, and payments.

The staff should consist of at least a director, an accountant to manage all material and financial records, and caretakers (employees who care for the animals), in the necessary quantity depending on the number of animals.

With Good Intentions

According to some animal rights advocates, the noble motive of helping our smaller brothers can, over time, turn into a nightmare for the furry residents due to the greed for profit. Unbearable living conditions, lack of proper nutrition, unpleasant odors. Such treatment can cause troubles for other people and certainly won't benefit the "rescued" animals themselves.

To address the issue, Primorye has already introduced a number of measures. First of all, starting January 1, 2025, the region will impose fines for the absence of a chip (a special tag) on pets caught roaming. For individuals – five thousand rubles, for legal entities – thirty thousand.

Secondly, the region is discussing the introduction of a ban on feeding stray animals. This is expected to be adopted in January 2025. This will help reduce the number of dogs banding together in groups.

REFERENCE FROM KP:

In 2024 alone, 51.6 million rubles were allocated in Vladivostok for the capture of stray dogs. Employees of the authorized organization conducted capture, vaccination, sterilization, and also chipping of dogs. Aggressive dogs were placed in their own shelter for further care: this also required funding.

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