The number of dog bites is slowly decreasing, and the number of reported bites will decrease, we suspect that some citizens misused and fictitiously reported and raised that number to some figure that is not popular. The results of the shelter are visible, as we planned, said the director of DOO "Lovstvo" Marko Brnjada, at the session of the Bar Municipal Assembly.
Submitting the work report with the financial report of this company for the year 2023, he said that the year was one of the most successful for them, because they got management of the hunting grounds for the next ten years and opened a shelter for abandoned animals.
Valentina Minić (Democrats) disagreed with the assessment that the company is doing well because she saw in the report that they received over 350 thousand euros from the citizens of Bar, and that they only earned a little over 39 thousand euros, which she thinks is "no income at all ".
She noted that 281 lawsuits were filed against the local government for compensation for physical and psychological damage caused by the bites of stray dogs, and that the costs amounted to 162 thousand euros more than the cost of the asylum.
"We have an asylum for animals, but it doesn't have any effect, because we gave the money for the asylum so that we wouldn't give money for dog bites, and we give more and more," she concluded.
"As for the education of citizens, I saw that everything is written in the future. You plan, you will maintain, it will be... You knew that the asylum would be built on time, why didn't you start with this earlier?", asked Minic.
She pointed out that the figures of money spent on lawsuits based on compensation for stray dog bites vary in different reports, and that it is difficult to conclude which figure is the right one.
Branimir Lakićević (For the future of the Bar) asked whether the citizens behave in accordance with the decision on pets, whether any fines have been written and assessed that the citizens behave the same as before and that the tourist season is on the threshold, so he would like to apply this decision to start a little more aggressively.
"What I have noticed as a citizen is that at night the bosses of this city are stray dogs. I myself was bitten on the boardwalk. The situation is alarming and we really have to solve it", he concluded.
Marko Brnjada said that during the dog show, they informed the citizens about the decision on pets in order to avoid unwanted consequences and punishment, and they will do this in the coming days in cooperation with the Municipal Police of Bar.
Darko Janković (Europe now) proposed to keep a record of aggressive dogs because there are some that have never hurt anyone, and to find a model to exclude aggressive dogs from the pack so that they do not harm citizens, in a financial and physical sense.
On behalf of citizens and NGO activists, Janković conveyed criticism regarding the fact that the asylum is under the jurisdiction of "Lovstva", which raises certain doubts among them. He asked how much was allocated for food, why puppies suffering from the parvo virus were killed, and whether it is true that 41 dogs were killed, and whether those suffering from leishmania are treated or put to sleep.
He asked for clarification of the time for visits to the asylum, which he said was not as stated on the website, but only twice a week, and requested that this information be revised.
Emir Peričić (DPS) characterized the problem of asylums and stray dogs as complicated and that the expectations that some people had were unrealistic, namely that this problem should be solved only a few months after the opening of the asylum.
"The key thing that needs to be done in this field is to stop the chain of reproduction. That as many individuals as possible are sterilized and that they are thrown out of that chain in that way. It is impossible to catch all stray dogs and lock them up in an asylum, it is economically impossible," he concluded.
He assessed that stray dogs did not fall from the sky onto the streets of Bar, but are the product of irresponsible owners and citizens.
Marko Brnjada, responding to the councilor's questions, said that asylum is not a solution, but a contribution to the solution. He does not agree with councilor Minić that the problem of stray dogs affects the residents of Sutomore the most, but that there are perhaps the least number of such dogs there thanks to female volunteers. He promised that they will work on educating citizens in the near future, through info stands, flyers and direct communication with citizens.
19 government councilors voted for the "Lovstva" report, while the opposition councilors did not vote.
Bonus video:
