Russian Forest of Death
Animal rights activists in Moscow say unlicensed pet sellers are dumping unsold animals in a forest on the city's outskirts.
Located in a cavernous warehouse on the edge of the city, Moscow's infamous Ptichy Rynok – or bird and animal market – is filled with boxes of puppies and kittens each Sunday.
Licensed dealers sell healthy pedigreed animals inside, but unlicensed dealers line the entrance to the market, trying to sell or trade other animals.
Animal rights activists say at the end of the day, the unlicensed dealers dump the animals they don't sell in a nearby stretch of birch forest. Many of the animals die there.
Veterinarian Igor Loginov says most Moscovites can't afford his services, meaning most pets are never neutered or sterilized.
Consequently, packs of mean-looking stray dogs are a common sight in Moscow and many unwanted litters of kittens and puppies end up at Ptichy Rynok, he said.
Activist Anna Filimova and a group of friends have created a website that shows pictures of the bodies of kittens and puppies in what she calls the Forest of Death.
She says they're dumped in the forest because sellers don't want to pay to feed their animals for another week.
Filimova also blames Russia's lack of animal protection laws. "If a hooligan kicks your pet to death, there's no law against it," she said.
Filimova hopes her website will raise public awareness, but admits that in a country trying to cope with issues such as poverty, AIDS and alcoholism, people really don't have much time to get involved in animal rights.
This is not her website but it does have to do with the plight of animals in Russia.
Love animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble their joy, do not harass them, do not deprive them of their happiness, do not work against God's intent.
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals: they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you.
Fydor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881)
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
Located in a cavernous warehouse on the edge of the city, Moscow's infamous Ptichy Rynok – or bird and animal market – is filled with boxes of puppies and kittens each Sunday.
Licensed dealers sell healthy pedigreed animals inside, but unlicensed dealers line the entrance to the market, trying to sell or trade other animals.
Animal rights activists say at the end of the day, the unlicensed dealers dump the animals they don't sell in a nearby stretch of birch forest. Many of the animals die there.
Veterinarian Igor Loginov says most Moscovites can't afford his services, meaning most pets are never neutered or sterilized.
Consequently, packs of mean-looking stray dogs are a common sight in Moscow and many unwanted litters of kittens and puppies end up at Ptichy Rynok, he said.
Activist Anna Filimova and a group of friends have created a website that shows pictures of the bodies of kittens and puppies in what she calls the Forest of Death.
She says they're dumped in the forest because sellers don't want to pay to feed their animals for another week.
Filimova also blames Russia's lack of animal protection laws. "If a hooligan kicks your pet to death, there's no law against it," she said.
Filimova hopes her website will raise public awareness, but admits that in a country trying to cope with issues such as poverty, AIDS and alcoholism, people really don't have much time to get involved in animal rights.
This is not her website but it does have to do with the plight of animals in Russia.
Love animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble their joy, do not harass them, do not deprive them of their happiness, do not work against God's intent.
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals: they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you.
Fydor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881)
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
posted by Bludlust at 3:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home