Animal rights activists held a protest rally outside the Government Administration
Animal rights activists held a protest rally outside the Government Administration.
The protesters are demanding an end to alleged cases of inhumane treatment of stray dogs and the punishment of those suspected of violating the law.
According to Lasha Chkhartishvili, another protest rally will be held on November 8 if the authorities fail to respond appropriately to the incident.
“Unfortunately, what we have been talking about at rallies here for months has now been confirmed: representatives of the Ivanishvili regime continue the mass slaughter of stray dogs instead of carrying out their sterilisation and vaccination and attempting to reduce their population through these measures.
I hope that society will become more actively involved this time, because if we do not turn out in large numbers, they will naturally not stop.
As for the investigation, I have absolutely no faith in it. I demand the arrest of Aragveli, the head of the Monitoring Service. If nothing changes, we will gather again next week at the same time,” Lasha Chkhartishvili stated.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has launched an investigation into footage circulating in connection with animal burial sites. The Ministry told InterPressNews that the investigation was launched under Article 259 of the Criminal Code, which covers the torture, cruel treatment or other forms of violence against animals.
It should be recalled that on October 31, TV Pirveli released footage showing pits, animal burial sites and the remains of dogs. Following the release of the footage, animal rights activists launched a petition on social media, calling on law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter. The activists demanded that the remains undergo forensic examination to establish the causes of the animals' deaths.
Tbilisi City Hall dismissed as false the media reports concerning animal burial sites. According to the agency, claims that the Animal Monitoring Agency was carrying out the mass and deliberate killing of animals constituted a distortion of the facts.
