BUJANOVAC, ONE OF THE FEW MUNICIPALITIES WITH AN ANIMAL SHELTER, WHICH IS CLOSED

29. October 2012.

Source: Večernje novosti – Serbia / Bujanovac – The municipality of Bujanovac is one of the few municipalities in South Serbia that has an asylum for dogs, which was built back in 2009. Although it seemed that this would solve the problem of stray dogs, it didn’t. Because of the unresolved problem with financing the asylum, the municipality pays huge sums in legal proceedings launched by the citizens bitten by stray dogs, while the asylum is kept under a lock.

“When the asylum was opened in the village of Klenike, which is in the municipality of Bujanovac, around 500 stray dogs were removed from the streets. The whole business cost the local government 3.2 million dinars, whereas a decision on the opening of the asylum was one of the few for which the councilors, both those in power and in the opposition, voted, "said Miodrag Milinkovic, Director of the Veterinary Station in Bujanovac. However, the asylum has been non-operational for the past two years, because of a lack of funds.

“Upon the opening of the asylum, an annex to the agreement was concluded with the local government, under which the financing of the asylum would be regulated every year. However, over the past two years, the local government failed to honor the agreement, while the veterinary station isn’t obliged, nor does it have the financial means, to pay for the asylum," Mr. Milinkovic said. The local government told us that the new government wanted to solve this problem and that the funding of the asylum should be planned in the budget.

“It is a fact that the funds for the asylum weren’t put aside over the past two years. I hope that we can now, since we’re expecting revision of the budget, find at least minimum funds for that purpose. There is the will to have the asylum operational, so that I asked that the money be set aside in the revised budget, "said Aca Antic, Head of Economy and Finance Department in the municipality of Bujanovac.