In our article we want to talk about the problem of animal welfare in Russia. This question has always been and remains relevant. Very often people harm animals without realizing it. Meanwhile, only we ourselves can help them.
Homeless animal problem
The problem of stray dogs and cats swept Russia back in the nineties, when the market for uncontrolled breeding of pets led to their excess and depreciation. As a result, the first packs of no-man's dogs appeared on the streets.
At that time, people who had lost their jobs in the collapsing collective farms began to move from the villages closer to the cities. Naturally, they did not take their pet dogs with them. Animals began to gather in flocks and also migrated closer to settlements. They multiplied, their number grew. I must say that the capture service ceased to exist in those days, no one was involved in regulating the number of stray dogs.
At the beginning of the 2000s, they gradually began to deal with this problem, trying to introduce humane methods to combat the homelessanimals. In Moscow, for example, a program of sterilization of animals was launched in 2002. Budget money was allocated for this, but it was of little use. It is difficult to check whether the animals were sterilized or not, but the funds are gone, but the problem remains.
In 2008 there was already a real influx of semi-wild animals. Therefore, it was decided to equip shelters for stray animals and keep them there for life. However, this did not give any result. The funds were again spent, but the problem was in no way solved.
Animal shelter
At this stage, there are two types of shelters in Russia. These are public and private. As you understand, municipal funding comes from the state budget. But they are the most relevant in the Russian Federation, since they have at least some legal regulation.
The start date of the functioning of such shelters can be considered the period of the appearance of the official document "On the design of shelters for homeless animals in the city of Moscow" (dated December 29, 2006).
How do homeless dogs or cats get into such shelters? The mechanism is very simple. There are special organizations that are engaged in catching animals. Then they are sent to live in an animal shelter.
I must say that all these places of keeping animals are far from ideal today. There is a lack of funding, but they are trying to solve the problem of homeless animals in humane and civilized ways. Volunteers who are not indifferent to this problem are of great help in this work.
Non-government shelters
Private shelters are created with the citizens' own money. The activities of such organizations are not regulated by any legislative acts. Very often, animal protectors are faced with the fact that keeping animals in such places cannot be called humane, the conditions do not meet any standards at all, so it is impossible to say that cats and dogs live better there.
However, there are also shelters where people who really love animals work. They provide proper pet care. Unfortunately, there are very few such organizations, they are always crowded with four-legged ones. Therefore, the reception of new tenants is extremely limited. Such shelters are simply not able to accept everyone from the street. There should be many more such organizations, in addition, their activities should be in the legal field, regulated by legislative acts, and for this it is necessary to adopt a number of laws regarding animals and their protection.
Myths about animal shelters
There are one hundred and fifty animal shelters in Russia, forty of them are located in Moscow. Only in them there are hundreds of thousands of animals. It would be possible for people who decide to get a pet for themselves, use the services of a shelter and take the animal with them. However, many have developed stereotypes regarding the four-legged living in such places. Like, they are all sick and dirty. However, this is not the case, as upon arrival at the shelter they are examined and vaccinated. They just need a lot more attention than others.animals.
It cannot be said that even in the best place, four-legged friends live perfectly. There is not enough space in shelters, in addition, the pets there clearly lack human affection and care.
Problems of mistreatment of animals from the shelter are handled by different funds. One of these is the Giving Hope Foundation. Its board of trustees includes well-known personalities: Elena Yakovleva, Konstantin Khabensky, Andrey Makarevich and other stars.
Protection of animals in nurseries
I must say that the entrance to the shelters is closed. Getting there is not so easy, only with passes. And there are reasons for this. This is how they try to protect themselves from people with animalistic inclinations who are capable of killing animals. That is why the Internet never indicates the direct addresses of shelters, but only an approximate location. Anyone who wants to get into the shelter and adopt an animal should first contact the volunteers.
Legislative protection of animals
At the same time, people began to use not only domestic, but also wild animals for commercial purposes. There are many examples of how, for example, in some roadside cafe or restaurant, wild animals (bears, monkeys, exotic lizards) are kept in terrible conditions to attract visitors. Not only can animals just run away from there and harm people, they simply should not live in such conditions. And such facts of the commercial use of animals must be fought. The issue of saving animals is long overdue.
So, we need a full-fledged law that would regulate this process, preventing cruelty to animals. Many countries have long adopted similar regulations (Austria, England).
However, the problem of animals has deeper roots. On the one hand, there is an uncontrolled reproduction of homeless individuals, which is extremely dangerous for society. On the other hand, people themselves sometimes also cause significant harm to them. Therefore, saving animals is a deep issue that requires all-round reflection and decision.
Animal Rescue Service
It must be said that in everyday life, not only no one's animals get into trouble, but even the most beloved pets. Stray dogs can only rely on themselves, while pets have a chance to get help from their owners.
Recently, special services have appeared in big cities that are engaged in helping domestic and wild animals. Saving animals is their top priority.
As a rule, such rescue services work around the clock. People can simply call them and get the information they need about what needs to be done to help their four-legged friends.
Unfortunately, there are no such state organizations in Russia. Therefore, the rescue of animals from death occurs only on a commercial basis. Not a single person will travel free of charge to provide assistance or treatment. I must say that the mandatory reception of absolutely all animalsnot carried out even in state shelters.
Moreover, in most of the Russian Federation there are no relevant environmental and gamekeeper services that could go to the field in case of difficult situations. Saving wild animals could be a completely solvable issue with the presence of such organizations.
Rescuers and climbers
Since you don't have to wait for help from public services, you can only rely on the paid services of private organizations for which animal rescue has become a job.
Rescuers and climbers work in Moscow and large metropolitan areas to provide animal rescue services. They can help you remove a cat from a height, pull a locked pet out of an inaccessible place.
However, even they are not always able to cope with a difficult situation, because they do not have certain equipment. In such cases, you can try to contact the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Of course, this service does not deal with animals, they do not have such specialists, but they can help with the necessary tools or equipment. For example, lift a heavy plate. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is reluctant to respond to such requests, because they have enough work of their own, but in exceptional cases you can try to contact them.
Ifaw (International Fund For Animal Welfare)
Saving animals is an actual problem of modern society. All over the world, many different dangers lie in wait for them: the loss of their usual habitat, conflict situations between humans and animals, natural and man-made disasters, abuse andillegal trade in tetrapods.
All these issues are de alt with by experts from the Ifaw International Foundation. They always try to help animals in trouble and direct their efforts towards solving problems that led to a dysfunctional situation.
The Animal Rescue Fund comes to the aid of bears, penguins, elephants, rhinoceroses and many other wild animals that without outside participation would be doomed to certain death. The fund's specialists not only save the animals, but also try to carry out the necessary rehabilitation before releasing them into the wild.
Fund activities in Russia
The purpose of the fund is to save animals and return them to the wild. The organization is international. In Russia, it also operates, in particular, in the Tver region there is a center for the rehabilitation of orphaned bear cubs, where they feed and raise cubs left without mothers. They try to return the matured individuals to their natural habitat in the most comfortable way. True, this is not always possible. Complex injuries and a long period of captivity interfere with the rapid process of adaptation. In such cases, animals are assigned to a shelter where they are kept for the rest of their lives.
In addition to helping animals, the fund's employees are actively trying to eliminate those causes that negatively affect the lives of animals, as much as possible, of course. The goal of the organization is to preserve wildlife in all its beauty and diversity at all costs.
From the history of the fund
In RussiaIfaw started operating in 1994. The first activity was related to the scientific research of marine mammals and the search for alternatives to seal hunting in the White Sea. Since then, the programs have expanded significantly, and now the fund's employees have directed their efforts to protect whales, polar and brown bears, wild animals that have become the subject of commercial trade and use, as well as tigers that are on the verge of extinction in Russia in the Far East.
Real life examples of animal rescue
You don't have to look far to give examples of animal rescue. There are a lot of them, because in the course of their work, Ifaw employees help not only representatives of wildlife, but also pets.
In January 2016, the Bear Cubs Rehabilitation Center, which we talked about earlier, received five cubs. Their story is similar to many others. They were left without mothers due to the fact that they were scared away from the dens by the sounds of logging. Rescuers heard the whimpering of abandoned cubs and saved them from certain death. Now the kids feel good and are gradually preparing them for life in the wild. One of them was named Mike and the other Cleopatra. They are treated and bottle fed.
These are not the only cubs in this nursery. Every year, a sufficient number of babies come here in a weakened and half-dead state, even from remote regions. All of them are cared for whenever possible.
Not so long ago, a young tigress was picked up by the fund's employees. She has been in the kennel for more than two months. And they took part in her rescuea lot of people, even locals. But the animal is currently doing well and is undergoing rehabilitation.
Ifaw and pets
The Foundation is actively involved in the protection of pets, as they often and heavily suffer from their own owners. After all, the life of our smaller brothers directly depends only on us. Sometimes, and not intentionally, we can harm them. Therefore, saving pets is one of the tasks of the organization.
In this area, the organization’s specialists are more likely to carry out educational work to provide people with the necessary information about how to care for animals than feed them, what diseases pets carry, how to avoid aggression and attacks from wards, and much more.
Ifaw promotes responsible and humane treatment of animals and at the same time a safe mutual existence of people and animals.
Instead of afterword
Protection of animals and their rescue is an urgent problem of modern society, which should be solved at the legislative level with the full support of not only volunteers and individual organizations, but also the general public. The most important task is to achieve the most comfortable existence of people with domestic and wild animals, excluding damage from both sides.
