In early December last year, the government gave Montenegrin municipalities three months to build a shelter for abandoned and stray animals, or sign contracts to keep them, or face fines. The deadline officially expired in early March, but only the Municipality of Tivat has built a pen for the animals so far.
A similar facility is planned in the capital Cetinje, and Danilovgrad will regulate this issue through a cooperation agreement with the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS). Some municipalities in the north do not have problems with abandoned animals.
This is shown by information that reporters of "Vijesti" received from several Montenegrin municipalities. By the time of writing, no responses had been received from the capital, the municipalities of Berane, Herceg Novi and Nikšić.
At a session in early December last year, the government determined the need to address the problem of stray cattle, through which it was planned that municipalities would capture the animals and notify the state, while the owners would take them from shelters and pay fines, the cost of capturing and housing them. According to the information, only Ulcinj has had such a facility so far.
Stray cattle are a problem in Podgorica, Cetinje, Budva, Herceg Novi, Ulcinj, Bijelo Polje and Berane, while the situation is alarming in Tivat, because these are animals without owners. Some of these animals have owners, while others are left to their own devices and pose a threat to human health, traffic safety, destroy infrastructure and damage citizens' property. In Montenegro, for years, animals from several cities have been captured and transported to the UIKS farm in Spuž.
"Vijesti" did not receive any answers on this topic from the Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Administration, which, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, is responsible for supervising and controlling the construction of shelters, as well as punishing municipalities. They were asked which municipalities have built these facilities, which have not, what kind of cooperation they have, how much this work costs, what are the consequences for not meeting deadlines, when will the shelters be completed...
The meat will be donated.
The Municipality of Tivat, or rather the local Public Utility Company, has built a temporary shelter - a pen for large livestock on part of the former agricultural estate "Montepranzo" in that city. As "Vijesti" was unofficially told by the local government, this way the obligation imposed by the Government on municipalities at the beginning of December to provide public or private shelters for stray animals on their territories has been fulfilled.
"In the future, the heads of large livestock that are caught in the actions we are conducting will be brought and temporarily placed in a pen on the site of a former agricultural estate that will be managed by the Public Utility Company. From there, the livestock for which its owner has not legally come forward will be transported to a slaughterhouse in one of the neighboring cities, with which we will conclude a contract on business and technical cooperation. After slaughter, the meat will be provided free of charge to various institutions and establishments that need it - from hospitals to soup kitchens," the source said.
The long-standing problem of stray cattle, which is faced mostly by residents of the eastern part of the municipality of Tivat, often manifests itself in the form of cattle coming out onto the Adriatic Highway and the main road in the settlement of Gradiošnica and endangering the safety of road users, breaking into the yards and properties of locals, causing great damage to them. Abandoned cattle cause great damage to orchards, gardens and agricultural areas, and there have been cases of damage to vehicles and even traffic accidents when cattle appeared on the highway. Tourists who use the excursion trails around Vrmac are also potentially at risk, because among the semi-wild cattle there are quite a few aggressive bulls.
The capital Cetinje also told "Vijesti" that they will soon provide space for stray cattle. They stated that they have taken all necessary legal and administrative steps to solve the problem, i.e. they have coordinated all decisions for more efficient action by the competent services, amended the Statute of the company "Komunalno Cetinje" and entrusted it with the responsibility for the care of abandoned and stray animals.
"A contract has been concluded between the companies 'Komunalno Cetinje' and 'Komunalno Budva', which relates to the provision of a specialized vehicle for the removal of abandoned and stray livestock, as well as a contract with the company 'Komunalne djelatnosti Ulcinj' for the transport and care of this type of animal. The Royal Capital of Cetinje, in cooperation with the 'Komunalno preduzeća', is working to provide complete infrastructure, accommodation space and special equipment for the capture, transport and care of animals," the Royal Capital said.
They emphasized that they will soon resolve the multi-year problem and form a clear, functional and sustainable system for caring for abandoned and stray animals.
They are preparing a contract with UIKS.
Secretary of the Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Management and Rural Development of the Municipality of Danilovgrad Darko Buric told "Vijesti" that they are resolving the situation of stray cattle and that they are close to concluding an agreement with UIKS, which would regulate in detail the relations, rights and obligations for the provision of UIKS services in accepting and keeping stray cattle. Burić emphasized that so far, no problem with stray production animals has been recorded in the territory of the Danilovgrad municipality, namely cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs...
From the Municipality of Bar, which is managed by Dušan Raičević told "Vijesti" that the company "Lovstvo" is working on solving the problem of livestock cemeteries and stray cattle. They explained that they have conducted a geodetic survey at the location where the Shelter for Abandoned Animals in Kufin is located, with the aim of designing a facility for the harmless removal of animal by-products on the same plot, and that the development of the project terms of reference for issuing Urban Planning and Technical Conditions is underway.
They emphasized that the company "Lovstvo" has purchased a specialized vehicle for the safe transport of small animals and a trailer for the transport of large animals and that they have the necessary documentation to perform this work. They also pointed out that in cases of stray livestock, the Communal Police operates in accordance with the Decision on Communal Order in the Territory of the Municipality of Bar - which prohibits the release, tying, feeding and presence of livestock and poultry in public areas.
"When it comes to cases of livestock appearing recently, the acting inspector immediately issued a decision ordering 'Lovstvo' to remove stray livestock (pigs) found on public land in the Sutomore settlement in Bar, which this company did. After that case, at the beginning of March, officers from the Municipal Police Service and the Inspection, in a joint action with the inspector of the Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs Directorate and 'Lovstvo', conducted a tour of the Spičansko polje bb location where two improvised fenced buildings were found housing a total of 31 livestock - pigs," the Municipality announced.
Buildings are also being demolished.
The Bar administration added that, in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act and the order of the veterinary inspector, unidentified animals of unknown owners were removed, and they were sent to the UIKS for disposal.
"Continuing activities at the location in question, it was determined that not a single head of cattle remained. The Communal Police and Inspection Service will begin the procedure for removing the improvised facilities in which the cattle were housed, as well as cleaning the location in question in cooperation with the company 'Communal Activities Bar'. After the activities were carried out, persons who identified themselves as the owners of the cattle responded to the official premises of the Communal Police and Inspection Service, and they were issued misdemeanor orders in accordance with Article 113 of the Decision on Communal Order in the Territory of the Municipality of Bar," they said.
The Municipality of Bar noted that earlier, at the location above Golo Brdo, three auxiliary facilities for keeping and breeding livestock were removed by a decision of the Municipal Police and Inspection Inspectors.
Stray cattle have been causing major problems for locals in Budva for years, as the semi-wild cattle invade their yards, gardens, and olive groves, cause accidents when they wander onto the main road, and can often be seen walking on the beaches.
As "Vijesti" was told by the Municipal Police of the Municipality of Budva, they conduct several actions annually during which cattle that are not under supervision are caught. In the event that they have an owner, as they explained, he is invited to come and take possession of the cattle and a misdemeanor report with a fine is issued to him. They pointed out that the Municipal Police has so far caught several dozen cattle that do not have an owner, and they were transported by trucks to quarantine in Spuž.
They emphasized that in the Budva area, there is currently no quarantine in which livestock would be kept.
The Municipality of Ulcinj stated that the Ministry informed them at the beginning of this year about the obligation to accommodate stray animals and establish livestock cemeteries, and that they are working on selecting a location for a pit-grave. They pointed out that money will be needed for this work, as they did not plan for this item in the budget for this year. They pointed out that they expect financial and technical assistance from the Ministry for establishing livestock cemeteries, but also that they do not believe that they can complete this work by the beginning of May.
Bush dated UIKS
Almost three years ago, the Municipality of Tivat carried out several actions to capture semi-wild cattle roaming the slopes of Vrmac, the area of Gradiošnica and the former "Montepranzo" agricultural estate in Mrčevac.
In these actions carried out with the Food Safety Administration, almost 40 heads of cattle were caught. This is only a small part of the cattle that a number of unscrupulous farmers from the Kavče area let roam freely in this part of the municipality and on the slopes of Mount Vrmac.
The municipality has repeatedly tried to solve or at least reduce this problem, but it has been limited in this regard by current legal solutions that do not allow culling, which is increasingly being called for by citizens who have been suffering damage for years. On rare occasions when some of the animals are captured, the owners do not come forward and avoid their legal responsibility.
The municipality took the cattle captured two years ago, for which the owners had not reported, to the UIKS farm in Spuž for veterinary quarantine. In accordance with the Law on Property and Legal Relations, the municipality then published advertisements on several occasions, inviting the owners to come forward and take over the cattle, taking responsibility for the damage they caused to citizens.
Since no one came forward and identified themselves as the owner of the disputed cattle, which were not even marked with legally required ear tags, the Municipality decided to hand over all the Bush cattle caught up to that point to UIKS without compensation, thus preventing itself from incurring further costs, as the stay of these cattle on the farm in Spuž cost the Tivat city treasury 116 euros each day in costs for their accommodation, care and feeding.
Part of the north without major problems
The Municipality of Žabljak told "Vijesti" that they have no problems with stray livestock, but that there have been cases where animals briefly ventured onto public areas due to the proximity of private grazing plots.
They added that this was happening due to the owner's current lack of supervision, but that the situations were resolved quickly and without consequences.
"We must admit that there is a somewhat problematic stray dog problem, and our attention is focused on that. The new spatial plan provides for a location for the construction of a shelter, and a working group has been formed to analyze this issue, which we consider important due to Žabljak's status as a prestigious tourist destination," said the municipality.
The Municipality of Bijelo Polje, as they told "Vijesti", does not have a problem with stray cattle, and they emphasized that the animals in Pavino Polje are the private property of one man, so the police and inspections are responsible for that.
Residents of that and surrounding villages recently blocked the road due to the wandering cattle of owner Petar Kljajević. which moves uncontrollably through the streets, cemeteries, destroying yards, gardens, orchards...
When asked whether the Municipality was obliged to implement the Government's decision, they explained that they had formed a commission and placed containers next to the Dobrakovo border crossing, which would be used in the event of an infection.
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