In our article we want to talk about the problem of protecting animals in the Russian Federation. This question has always been and remains relevant. Very often people harm animals without realizing it. Meanwhile, only we ourselves can help them.
The problem of homeless animals
The problem of stray dogs and cats swept Russia back in the nineties, when the market for uncontrolled breeding of domestic animals led to their excessive number and depreciation. As a result, the first flocks of draw dogs appeared on the streets.
At that time, people who lost their jobs on collapsed collective farms began to move from villages closer to cities. Naturally, they did not take domestic dogs with them. Animals began to gather in flocks and also migrated closer to settlements. They multiplied, their number grew. I must say that the trapping service in those days ceased to exist, no one was involved in regulating the number of stray dogs.
At the beginning of the 2000s, they gradually began to deal with this problem, trying to introduce humane methods of dealing with stray animals. In Moscow, for example, the animal sterilization program was launched in 2002. Budget money was allocated for this, but there was little sense. It is difficult to check whether animals were sterilized or not, but the funds were gone, but the problem remained.
In 2008 there was already a real influx of semi-wild animals. Therefore, it was decided to equip shelters for stray animals and keep them there for life. However, this did not give any result. The funds were again spent, and the problem was not solved in any way.
Animal shelter
At this stage in Russia there are two types of shelters. It is municipal and private. As you yourself understand, municipal funding comes from the state budget. But they are the most relevant in the Russian Federation, since it is they who have at least some legal regulation.
The start date of the operation of such shelters can be considered the period of the appearance of the official document "On the design of shelters for homeless animals in the city of Moscow" (December 29, 2006).
How do stray dogs or cats get into such shelters? The mechanism is very simple. There are special organizations that deal with the capture of animals. Then they are sent to live in an animal shelter.
I must say that all these places of keeping animals today are far from ideal. The lack of funding is affecting, but they are trying to solve the problem of homeless animals in humane and civilized ways. Great help in this work is provided by volunteers who are not indifferent to this problem.
Private Shelters
Private shelters are created with the citizens’own money. The activities of such organizations are not regulated by any legislative acts. Very often, animal defenders are confronted with the fact that keeping animals in such places cannot be called humane in any way, the conditions do not correspond to any standards at all, so talking about cats and dogs is better off is impossible.
However, there are also such shelters where people who really love animals work. They provide proper care for pets. Unfortunately, there are very few such organizations; they are always crowded with tetrapods. Therefore, the admission of new residents is extremely limited. Such shelters are simply not able to take everyone from the street. There should be many more such organizations, in addition, their activities should be in the legal field, regulated by legislative acts, and for this it is necessary to adopt a number of laws regarding animals and their protection.
Myths about animal shelters
In Russia, there are one hundred and fifty animal shelters, forty of them located in Moscow. Only in them are hundreds of thousands of animals. It would be possible for people who decided to buy a pet, use the services of a shelter and take an animal. However, many have stereotypes regarding tetrapods living in such places. Like, they are all sick and dirty. However, this is not so, since upon arrival at the shelter they are examined and vaccinated. They just need to pay much more attention than other animals.
It cannot be said that even in the best place four-legged friends live well. There is little space in the shelters, in addition, the pets there are clearly not enough human affection and care.
Various funds deal with the problems of the animals being treated incorrectly from the shelter. One of these is the Hopeful Fund. His board of trustees includes well-known personalities: Elena Yakovleva, Konstantin Khabensky, Andrei Makarevich and other stars.
Protection of animals in nurseries
I must say that the shelters have a closed entrance. Getting there is not so easy, only by passes. And there are reasons for this. So they try to defend themselves against people with flaying inclinations who are capable of killing animals. That is why the Internet never indicate the direct addresses of shelters, but only an approximate location. Everyone who wants to go to a shelter and take an animal, needs to contact first of all with volunteers.
Legislative protection of animals
At the same time, people began to use not only domestic but also wild animals for commercial purposes. There are many examples of how, for example, wild animals (bears, monkeys, exotic lizards) are kept in terrible conditions in some roadside cafe or restaurant to attract visitors. Not only can animals just run away from there and harm people, they just don't have to live in such conditions. And such facts of the commercial use of animals need to be fought. The problem of saving animals has long been ripe.
So, a full-fledged law is needed that would regulate this process, preventing animal cruelty. Many countries have long adopted similar regulations (Austria, England).
However, the animal problem has deeper roots. On the one hand, there is an uncontrolled reproduction of homeless individuals, which is extremely dangerous for society. And on the other hand, people themselves sometimes also cause them significant harm. Therefore, the rescue of animals is a deep issue that requires comprehensive consideration and resolution.
Animal rescue service
I must say that in everyday life, not only nobody's animals are in trouble, but even the most beloved pets. Homeless dogs can rely only on themselves, and domestic animals have a chance to get help from their owners.
Recently, special services have appeared in big cities that are engaged in providing assistance to domestic and wild animals. Saving animals is their first priority.
As a rule, such rescue services work around the clock. People can simply call them and get the information they need to do to help their four-legged friends.
Unfortunately, in Russia there are no such state organizations. Therefore, the rescue of animals from death occurs only on a commercial basis. No one will travel free to provide assistance or treatment. I must say that the mandatory reception of absolutely all animals is not conducted even in state shelters.
Moreover, in most of the Russian Federation there are no corresponding environmental and ranger services that could travel to places in the event of difficult situations. Salvation of wild animals could become a completely solvable issue in the presence of such organizations.
Rescuers and climbers
Since you don’t have to wait for help from public services, you can only rely on paid services of private organizations, for which saving animals has become a job.
Rescuers and climbers who provide animal rescue services work in Moscow and large megacities. They can help you remove a cat from a height, pull a blocked pet out of an inaccessible place.
However, even they cannot always cope in a difficult situation, because they do not have certain equipment. In such cases, you can try to contact the Ministry of Emergencies. Of course, this service does not deal with animals, they do not have such specialists, but they can help with the necessary tools or equipment. For example, lift a heavy plate. The Ministry of Emergencies is reluctant to respond to such requests, because they have enough of their work, but in exceptional cases you can try to contact them.
Ifaw Foundation (International Fund For Animal Welfare)
Animal rescue is an urgent problem in modern society. Around the world, they face many different dangers: the loss of their habitual habitat, conflict situations between humans and animals, natural disasters and technological disasters, abuse and illicit trade in four-legged animals.
Ifaw experts are involved in all of these issues. They always try to help animals that are in trouble, and direct their efforts to solving problems that led to an unfavorable situation.
The Animal Rescue Fund comes to the rescue of bears, penguins, elephants, rhinos and many other wild animals that would be doomed to certain death without outside participation. The fund’s specialists not only save animals, but also try to carry out the necessary rehabilitation before releasing them to the wild.
Fund activities in Russia
The purpose of the fund is to save animals and return them to the wild. The organization is international. In Russia, it also carries out its activities, in particular, in the Tver region there is a center for the rehabilitation of cubs-orphans, where they are engaged in feeding and raising cubs left without mothers. Matured individuals are trying to most comfortably return to their natural habitat. True, this is not always possible. Complex injuries and a long period of bondage interfere with the rapid adaptation process. In such cases, animals are identified in a shelter where they are kept until the end of life.
In addition to helping the animals, the fund's employees are actively trying to eliminate the causes that negatively affect the life of animals, as far as possible, of course. The organization’s goal is to preserve wildlife in all its beauty and diversity at all costs.
From the history of the fund
Ifaw began working in Russia in 1994. The first activity was related to the scientific research of marine mammals and the search for alternatives to seal hunting in the White Sea. Then the programs expanded significantly, and now the fund’s employees have focused on protecting whales, polar and brown bears, wild animals, which have been the subject of commercial trade and use, as well as tigers that are on the verge of extinction in Russia in the Far East.
Real-life examples of beast rescue
To give examples of saving animals, you do not need to go far. There are a lot of them, because in the course of their work, Ifaw employees help not only wildlife representatives, but also pets.
In January 2016, five cubs entered the Cubs Rehabilitation Center, which we talked about earlier,. Their story is similar to many others. They were left without mothers due to the fact that they were scared from the den by the sounds of logging. Rescuers heard how the abandoned cubs whimper and rescued them from inevitable death. Now the kids feel good and are gradually preparing them for life in the wild. One of them was named Mike, and the other - Cleopatra. They are treated and bottle fed.
These are not the only cubs in this nursery. A sufficient number of babies in a weakened and half-dead state, even from remote regions, come here every year. If possible, they are all nursed.
Not so long ago, a young tigress was picked up by the fund's employees. She has been in the nursery for more than two months. And a lot of people took part in her salvation, even local residents. But now the animal feels great and is undergoing rehabilitation.
Ifaw and pets
The Foundation actively participates in the protection of pets, as they often and heavily suffer from their own owners. After all, the life of our smaller brothers directly depends only on us. Sometimes and not intentionally, we can harm them. Therefore, rescue of pets is one of the tasks of the organization.
In this area, the organization’s specialists are more likely to carry out educational work to provide people with the necessary information about how to care for animals, than to feed, what diseases animals suffer, how to avoid aggression and attacks from the wards, and much more.
Ifaw promotes a responsible and humane attitude towards animals and, at the same time, the safe mutual existence of humans and animals.
