Lidija Stevanović, Animal Lover, on the Problem of Stray Dogs in Banja Luka

The general problems of stray dogs in the city on the Vrbas. I have been thinking the whole time about what to write. And it is not coming. Because if I start writing about what I have been fighting for over the past three years, I realise that even what I am doing is not the solution. Another problem appears. Bureaucracy, and whether anyone will understand what is being done. Spaying and returning to the street. It is a criminal offence. And then another problem appears: you spay all the city dogs, then a guy comes from a village or a suburb to whom spaying is a mortal sin, but who finds it cool to leave 5 newborn puppies right in the centre of town, so that some local fool who has devoted her life to those innocent little creatures can fight to raise them. And meanwhile, until they are raised and reach the age for rehoming, they need at least 500 marks, for accommodation, food, vaccines, the journey to a new home… and so on in a circle. And meanwhile, all the other females who might have got pregnant in that period are neglected, and you get 20 new litters. And a hundred or so new puppies, and so on in a circle, which is simply a bottomless pit.
And so, thinking it over, I come to the conclusion that we are all making mistakes and throwing money away.
The biggest and main problem is essentially the state and the system. And that is where we should start.
Simply, by the will of us who do all this, but also of the other people who have an ear for our four-legged friends, something should be done about changing the law.
Compulsory spaying and neutering, from the city to the village, except for breeders, and sometimes even them, compulsory microchipping, even if there is no single register, every clinic is in contact with the others and they have the data, the introduction of an ANIMAL POLICE, even if it consisted of the ordinary municipal police, which in my experience so far has never fined irresponsible owners, only responsible ones; if they did their job, they would fill the budget nicely and justify their existence, because irresponsible owners far outnumber the responsible ones.
And so I keep thinking about what could be done and how, but I know it will all remain just words on Facebook, because most people are immune to appeals and to solving existing problems. Even though those of us who have pets outnumber those who do not. And I know that if we all agreed, we could achieve something, and not just something. We could achieve a great deal.
How many of you, for example, would be willing to come to a meeting in the dog park if we launched a campaign to change the law? Just asking….
I wish you a pleasant start to the working week…..

Author: Lidija Stevanović