Progress in the stray dog situation in Kosovo

Improving the quality of life of stray dogs in the Southwest Balkans

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Year 2024

• Autumn 2024: The animal shelter with around 350 cages is completed in Pristina. And when you walk through town, you hardly see any dogs anymore. What happens to them is unknown. The Animal Shelters Act now allows the animals to be locked up!

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Year 2023

• June 2023: Following the entry into force of the Animal Shelter Act, the Mayor Perparim Rama of the City of Pristina has decided to clean the roads and care for the animals in animal shelters, where they are locked up under unacceptable conditions.
• April 2023: Minister Peci has decided, not least thanks to our interventions with partners, that the killing article for stray dogs will be removed. The new regulation has been put into force without a second consultation and contains strange rules! We'll leave it alone.
• January 2023: The last contracts for chipping dogs are to be signed! Happy New Year!

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Year 2022

• December 2022: The draft animal shelter regulation is available, developed in cooperation with the State Animal Rights Foundation and EU representatives. It plans to kill dogs in shelters after 30 days. Six foreign NGOs have protested thanks to our initiative. Wait and see!
• June 2022: The vets are intended for the dog owners' registration program, the program can start at the beginning of July - but the veterinary office is in no hurry!
• May 2022: Seminar for judges, public prosecutors and police in Kosovo on animal abuse - together with the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation (a kick-off from our foundation) and the Swiss Animal in Law Foundation. See here for details!‍
• March 2022: Call for veterinarians who want to participate in the registration of dog owners.

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Year 2021

• August 2021: Two laws - on dog husbandry and breeding - prepared by the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation based on a Swiss model are now available for consultation and signing by the Ministry of Agriculture. Implementation will be a challenge that we will all face!
• June 2021: Kosovo receives an official “Pet Passport” for the first time, in three languages and printed by us. The veterinary office has enough microchips to start registering dog owners - making suspension more difficult.
• May 2021 signed a contract with the Animal Rights Foundation, according to which we pay for the expansion of the registry in Kosovo to include pets.
• April 15, 2021 Cooperation agreement with Mitrovica is signed!
• March 14-19, 2021 Visiting all of our programs in Kosovo - we can continue except Mitrovica.
• February 14, 2021: We congratulate the new Albin Kurti government for re-election. We had the best support in our programs with his 2nd Prime Minister Haki Abazi - we are counting on him again and on a stable government in Kosovo!

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Year 2020

• December 28, 2020: The draft for a registration regulation for dogs has been revised once again by the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation and is currently in the hands of the country's Minister of Agriculture.
• November 27, 2020: The city of Niksic signs a contract with our foundation after we invest 24,000 euros in free-range areas of the municipal animal shelter thanks to a private donation. The city itself is adding 12,000 euros!
• September 12, 2020: The city of Vushtrri signs a contract with our foundation, according to which 500 street dogs will be treated for the next 18 months from September 1, 2020, with the city covering 46% of the castration costs.
• June 23, 2020: The city of Niksic signs a contract with Family Vet — our partners in Montenegro!
• May 25, 2020: We are protesting with an open letter against the terrible treatment of street dogs by veterinarians - by the government and parliament, with copies to the embassies of those countries that are directly or indirectly represented in Kosovo by NGOs.
• May 2020: Once again, horrible treatment of street dogs is taking place in Kosovo - by the veterinarians, who are commissioned by the state to castrate street dogs without appropriate proof of qualification!
• March 2020: Change of partner veterinarians in Niksic/Montenegro. We are now working with the Family Vet practice in Niksic, which has been caring for street dogs free of charge for years. Saska is the project manager. DVM Gorasevic is still part of the prevention program.
• End of March 2020 - in the midst of the corona crisis, the LDK Party of Kosovo managed to create a Vote of no confidence Get through in parliament against the incumbent Prime Minister Kurti - the country is once again without a strong leader, but full of political intrigue!
• In mid-February 2020, we will write to the new Deputy Prime Minister Haki Abazi asking him to refill the veterinary office and address the stray dog situation in the country. We receive a prompt response and the team from the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation is invited to a meeting. Thanks to the new Vetëvendosje government, which gives animals a perspective.

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Year 2019

• November 28, 2019: Disaster relief for Street dogs in Durrës with the support of the small local association, JETA Tier und Mensch
• November 2019: Start Baute TCC in Vushtrri - Supplying the North-East of the country
• October 2019: Kick off in Niksic in Montenegro, Start a CNVR program with DVM Nebojsa Gorasevic!
• May 2019: Establishment of the first small veterinary association in Kosovo thanks to our initiative (www.ksava.net)
• April 2019: Friendly welcome in the Swiss Embassy Pristina, where we report on Kosovo's veterinary sector and our work.
• March 2019: Terrible conditions in Roma Camp Plementina, no one takes care of the dogs there. And it was only thanks to the dogs that we saw how unwell the people there were doing. We are working there - together with Zenel Zhabari from Vushtrri.
• February 2019 Start of treatment of privately kept dogs in Prizren - in accordance with the contract with the city. The abandonment of puppies should be prevented, our local partner: DVM Jusuf Kovaçi.
• January 11, 2019, the continuation of the castration program in Kosovo has still not been approved - the dogs are currently reproducing happily - and soon we will be back at the starting point - except in the two regions where we continue to work - Gjakova and Vushtrri.
• January 5, 2019, a total of 50 street dogs were castrated by our new partner in Vushtrri. In addition, 30 privately kept dogs. He also visited four school buildings. It continues!
• At the beginning of November, negotiations have begun with the municipality of Vushtrri and the first Information sessions instead of.

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Year 2018

• ‍On October 29, 2018, 11:30 a.m., opening of the new and first veterinary clinic in Kosovo!‍
• September 20, 2018: Since the beginning of July, we have received terrible news regarding the work of Kosovo veterinarians! We are writing an email against this “slaughterhouse” by veterinarians at the Veterinary Office - which does not accept this accusation! We note that, as an animal welfare organization, we will continue to protest against any animal cruelty in Kosovo as well.
• September 14, 2018: Our start up for street dogs in Kosovo has been successful. We are now handing over to KoSaw, our national NGO, with the same partners as before. In albania We support ProqenAlbania.org and, as required, JETA animals and humans.
• August 17, 2018: First deployment of our mobile clinic - operated by the NGO Kosovo Small Animal Welfare
• July 10, 2018: The Kosovo Veterinary Office is taking action for the first time. The first team leader of Pristina's veterinarians was suspended because, instead of castrating, he simply replaced the dogs' ear tags and wanted to collect them! Good job from the inspectorate!
• June 22, 2018: Our contract proposal for Shkodra/Albania Before: Castration of 500 dogs - on July 17, 2018, the mayor signed the contract with us and our partners.
• June 16, 2018: With our logistical support, a protest by the Animal Rights Foundation Kosovo, Prizren Group, takes place before the documentary cinema. Four mayors appeared, including Erion Veliaj, who has been running a major killing program for two years under the title CNVR in tirana performs.
• May 28, 2018 - Official start of the nationwide castration program in Kosovo!
• May 21-25, 2018: The Veterinary Office signs contracts with the veterinary teams that won the CNVR tender.
• April 30, 2018: Our partner organization, Kosovo Small Animal Welfare, is founded!
• April 27 to May 1, we will train large veterinarians in Kosovo in the small incision technique for castrations - for the 3 times - with the Slovenian Animal Welfare Organization Slovenian Vets for Stray Pets is used!
• April 23: The contracts have not yet been awarded. We have just learned that a vet from a village in Decan has applied with pictures of his clinic with boxes for street dogs, which he simply copied from other websites and FB sites - the inspection came and saw that nothing was there!
• April 1: Start of Food & Veterinary Agency inspections of all veterinarians who have applied to castrate street dogs.

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