Montenegro
StrayCoCo = Straydog Control through Cooperation
Abandoned, suffering dogs and cats in Montenegro
NO LONGER ACTIVE IN MONTENEGRO!
From Montenegro, we repeatedly received calls for help from the coast. Nevertheless, we decided to choose a location in the mountains for our model work, the city of Niksic, because although the city has an overcrowded animal shelter, according to local activists, the dogs were not killed back then. Time for us to set an example - how we can live with so-called “community dogs”.
In June 2020, after lengthy negotiations with the city of Niksic, we were able to reach a contract for our partner veterinarians Family Vet Niksic. We were therefore assured that we would no longer catch the dogs we castrated and to send them to the shelter. We invested in this animal shelter, where the dogs sit in cages and built freewheeling areas. But after three years, the city had had enough and the municipal cleaning company started taking the dogs to the shelter and explained that they would poison everyone. As a result, dogs were poisoned and some of our dogs were taken to animal shelters. We do not accept this breach of contract.
Niksic - Montenegró
In November 2019, we sent our project manager from Kosovo, DVM Blendi Bejdoni, to Niksic to review the situation on the ground. Cooperation with the vet chosen first became impossible, as street dogs do not usually go to see a vet on their own initiative. You have to go out and catch the dogs. That is what is required of us.
Since February 2023, we have been delivering food, otherwise the program has been discontinued because the state captured the dogs we treated and sent them to the state animal shelter. The vet did not want to help anymore because we did not sign a contract with the city in time, because we first needed donations from a Liechtenstein foundation - and did not receive them for a long time.
Information for tourists
MONTENEGRO IS NOT A COUNTRY FOR ANIMAL LOVERS — SUFFERING, SICK DOGS AND CATS, OFTEN ABANDONED OUTSIDE THE CITIES, MAKE THEIR HEARTS BLEED.
We take the view that vacations are meant as relaxation. Who wants to see helpless and abandoned dogs - without being able to help. They'll tell you they can take the dog to the state animal shelter. But attention: Some of these animal shelters are simply killing stations, others, such as in Niksic, cannot be described as homes at all, unless you want the found dog to be kept on a chain for the rest of its life or in a kennel on concrete floors. Third, better-managed animal shelters are completely overcrowded - and the dogs have no prospect of adoption. During surprising visits, you find that the dogs are sitting in their own droppings, letting water through their huts, lack sun protection and freewheeling. These are not animal shelters, so don't report the dog to the authorities, but help yourself as best you can.
Animal help at the holiday resort
Almost every major town has a vet. Take the dog or puppy to the vet, have it dewormed - very important - vaccinated and castrated. Ask for an ear tag. Then return the dog to the place where you found him and ask the local residents to give him water and food. In the best case scenario, you'll come across animal lovers who are willing to keep “their” dog with them in the yard for monthly contributions. Then you saved an animal's life.
Construction of a transit center and sanctuary for street dogs with DVM Aleksandra Krivokapic
In this area 10 km outside Niksic, the street dogs are recovering after surgery or waiting for their adopters. The first dog houses have been open since August 2021. The dogs live freely here! Shelters could be built with modest resources - but more is needed, especially food! The Family Vet team is happy to receive direct donations.
Shelter control!
State animal shelters in Montenegro are either killing stations or poorly maintained life-long prisons. In Niksic, we changed that: Our team of veterinarians was the first to assemble trays for water and food, built running lines for the chained dogs, and thanks to private donations, we financed a fence so that two free running zones were created. Cameras connected directly to the Family Vet veterinary practice were used to check whether government employees were following the schedule and also letting the dogs run freely. All shelter dogs have already been castrated by the end of July 2020, and all sick dogs have been treated. We wanted to show the city that dealing with street dogs can and must look different than before, but the shelter manager repeatedly acts against our contractual agreements with the city, in particular the provision that the dogs we treat may continue to live in their quarters and not be locked up. After a few incidents where our dogs were placed in icy boxes without pads, we decided at the beginning of 2023 to stop helping the city with a castration program. The vet explained that she could no longer fight these dog catchers.
And the free running zones have been built - the dogs are happy!
At the end of 2022 at the state animal shelter - a big step backwards
After some feedback from activists in the city that our dogs were disappearing, in January 2023, we found three of our dogs freezing at sub-zero temperatures in newly built so-called quarantine boxes, without any bed pad or even just a wooden pallet - dogs that had previously lived peacefully and freely in quarters. This was a blatant breach of contract and we cannot support this form of mistreatment.
Montenegro Veterinary Office 2022
- Our statement - our consultation on the proposed law
- Legislative proposal to reduce street dogs
- Our two-year contract with the city of Niksic
All documents can be found here:
- StrayCoco consultation to the Veterinary Office Podgorica - Montenegro
- Legislative proposal from the Montenegro Veterinary Office to reduce the stray dog population
- Contract with the City of Niksic for the treatment of street dogs on the street and in the state animal shelter
(Please note that all legal work is done free of charge — and donations go directly to the animals.)
Montenegro is an unstable country with constantly changing politicians, once again without an elected prime minister since the end of 2022, Abazovic is only tolerated. As a result, the head of the veterinary office also changed - and how long he will stay is uncertain. As a result, there is no reliable point of contact at state level following the replacement of former head of office Vesna Dakovic. Everything depends on the power of individual political parties — and the country can barely develop. Our programs in Niksic attract no attention in Podgorica. All functions are filled by new people. As long as there is no stability in this country, we can only help on a small scale.
All programs in Montenegro were discontinued at the end of 2023.
Kristina Ognjenovic supervises our work for street dogs in Niksic/Montenegro. During the duration of our project, she asked citizens about the situation of street dogs and their satisfaction, the result can be found on our report page.
Responsible for the state animal shelters in Montenegro was the Minister of Agriculture Milutin Simovic - who immediately responded to the complaint from our partner veterinarians about the animal shelter in Niksic, visited it and demanded changes - help and control our partners!
But since 2021, there has been another new mayor who supported our castration work, but is barely prepared to make any changes at the state animal shelter.
Impressionen
