“‘The whale was really friendly and came up to us and started opening its mouth, and just checking us out,’ a Norwegian official said.” “… A beluga whale – found in Arctic Norway with a camera harness strapped to its head – has been joyously seeking out human contact and is in no hurry to swim back …. The whale […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 31, 2018) Russia has banned petting zoos, animal cafes and the killing of stray dogs and cats under a new law submitted eight years ago that dramatically overhauls rules overseeing the treatment of domestic and wild animals. Stray dogs roam the streets of many Russian cities and towns, and attacks by – and against […]
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“… The culling of stray animals has even caused a schism within the Russian population. 1.8 million people signed a petition against the killing of stray animals, while protests are being held in several cities. Even notable Russian actors have spoken out against the campaigns. However, while the brutal slaughter of stray animals has been met with significant domestic and […]
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“… with the FIFA World Cup starting June 14, the issue is again in focus after seven of the 11 host cities issued calls to kill street dogs ahead of the games. Russia has a problem with strays … Rostov-on-Don, like a majority of Russian cities, conducts an annual culling of the packs …. Government contracts pay as much as […]
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“In mid-January, the State Duma created a mediation committee to review draft legislation that would ban ‘baiting stations,’ where hunting dogs are trained to attack leashed wild animals. Co-sponsored by Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, the bill passed the lower house of Russia’s parliament in December 2017, before running into rare opposition from the Federation Council, which soon voted down the […]
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“WARNING – DISTRESSING IMAGES: The mass slaughter of stray dogs will take place despite assurances to the contrary, say animal rights campaigners”
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 20, 2017) Novyye izvestiya reports today that there were two major demonstration efforts in Russian cities last weekend, protests against the showing of the film Mathilda and demonstrations calling for more laws to protect animals from abuse and mistreatment (newizv.ru/news/society/20-09-2017/107-2-s-takim-schetom-protivniki-matildy-ustupili-zaschitnikam-zhivotnyh). The former attracted enormous attention in the media, while the latter […]
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“Since [the early 1990’s] Svetlana has walked the dogs of American diplomats in Moscow. The 52-year-old Russian is not a U.S. Embassy employee but has come to this work through recommendations by American pet devotees … [she]doesn’t remember how many dogs … “… definitely under 100 … more than 60.” … what started out as a side job … while raising her children has […]
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“Our latest survey shows that a majority (59%) of Russians own a cat. This is more than 10 percentage points higher than any other country in our survey of 52 countries. Surprised? Don’t be. In Russia, cats have been placed on a high pedestal since Empress Elizabeth’s reign in the 1700s, where felines prized for their mouse-catching abilities were brought to […]
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“In most Russians, there is secretly a crazy cat lady, it seems. According to a survey by research company Dalia, 59 percent of Russians own at least one cat. …”
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 20, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin may have set a dangerous precedent after convincing a retired soldier to buy his wife a pet pooch, possibly spawning a wave of similar requests from animal-lovers nationwide. “Please just say to him: ‘Boris, you’re wrong! Let your wife have a dog!’ We’ve already tried everything,” a woman […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, November 25, 2013) Alfia Karimova’s path to animal-rights activism started when she was shopping online — for a fur coat. The 34-year-old woman from the industrial city of Magnitogorsk was already the proud owner of an elegant silver-fox-fur coat. And with winter coming, she was in the market for another, this time […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2013) The brown bear that former president Boris Yeltsin gave to the Moscow zoo will be moved to a new location so that he can meet his old age “with dignity,” the zoo’s director Sergei Popov said at a press conference Tuesday. The zoo had previously received numerous letters from visitors, complaining that […]
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Deadly Hobby of Dog Hunting Gains Popularity – Moscow Times/AP – September 24, 2012 – http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/deadly-hobby-of-dog-hunting-gains-popularity/468660.html The Moscow Times features an AP story about Moscow dog-killers, with reports of at least 70 dead dogs in a week prompting police action. Psychopaths who poison dogs apparently are using the internet and social networking to share information about the killings and their […]
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