GEORGIA
Even prior to the break up of the Soviet Union and the country's independence in 1991, there had been reports of poor animal welfare in Georgia. Currently there is no known numbers for the stray animal populations in the country and only one active NGO in the capital Tbilisi. With little government support presently to improve animal welfare, the situation for animal welfare activists is becoming critical.
Mayhew International was recently contacted by Animal Rights Committee (ARC) Georgia, the sole organisation in Georgia looking to actively make a difference for the abandoned and stray animals of Tbilisi.
Animal Rights Committee (ARC) Georgia
Animal Rights Committee (ARC) is a non-profit organization based in Tbilisi, Georgia. ARC's mission is to alleviate animal suffering and promote cruelty-free living in Georgia. Animal Rights Committee is managed by a group of volunteers who contribute their free time and resources to the protection of animals.
Animal Rights Committee operates in three main directions:
- Stray control: developing and implementing programmes to control and contain the stray animal problem and promote spaying/neutering;
- Animal welfare legislation and monitoring: lobbying for the adoption of progressive animal welfare laws and monitoring their observance;
- Public awareness campaigns: promoting humane and ethical treatment of animals.
Mayhew International supports ARC Georgia in its aim to improve the welfare of animals in Tbilisi by:
- Advising on the implementation of an Animal Birth Control Programme for the vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs;
- Providing information on implementing low-cost veterinary services for Tbilisi and surrounding villages;
- Helping to run an education programme to promote animal welfare in the local communities;
- Continuing to aid lobbying the City Council and government bodies on their animal welfare legislation
Why we work here:
In late 2008, we were contacted by ARC Georgia about a vet who volunteers for them, to participate in our International Veterinary Training Scheme. At this stage we looked further into current animal welfare conditions in the country.
The results of this research showed that in Georgia:
- Very little animal welfare legislation is in place country wide;
- Any animal welfare legislation in place is not enforced;
- No government body is presently in place to regulate the stray animal population throughout Georgia;
- In Tbilisi, there is presently no local authority department charged with animal welfare issues;
- There is no non-governmental veterinary body in place to regulate veterinary practice in the country;
- All veterinary teaching is run through one state university with little emphasis on small animals;
- There is little concept of animal welfare within the veterinary profession;
- There are no municipal shelters of any kind;
- No research has been done to analyse the population dynamics of the stray dog and cat populations.
What we are doing:
We have collaborated with ARC Georgia on lobbying the national and regional authorities on their animal welfare legislation and policies. In February 2009, we wrote to the Mayor of Tbilisi and unfortunately received no response. Subsequent to this, we had a meeting with the Georgia Ambassador to the United Kingdom who is greatly in favour of a humane policy for control of stray animal numbers in his country. Due to his passion and further determination to raise the topic at a higher level, he spoke with the Mayor of Tbilisi when he returned to the country in March 2009.
Post his visit we were contacted by the Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly, who said the following:
"...We completely realise that any country needs humane policy for protecting animals from cruelty and abandonment. We condemn violent methods of dealing with this issue; this is why Tbilisi City Assembly and the stray dog control team has started working on a project suitable for Tbilisi and corresponding European standards. Our initial aim is to construct animal protection legislation and to control animal reproduction with civilised methods. Having been acquainted with the work done by Mayhew International and your other projects abroad we know that you could be valuable in offering advice on the establishment of shelters and sterilisation programmes. We would appreciate if you could assist Tbilisi in the same way and host the representatives of Tbilisi City Assembly who are the members of the stray animal control team. Sharing your experience with them would be beneficial for dealing with this issue..."
We agreed to the proposal and organised their visit for May 2009 along with ARC Georgia.
Tbilisi City Assembly Stray Animal Control Team and ARC Georgia visit to Mayhew International May 2009
During a three day visit to London, Mayhew International organised a programme to give the Tbilisi City Council representatives an overview on how the UK handles the over-population of companion animals, the cooperation between government and non-government bodies and more specifically how London deals with stray and abandoned dogs and other welfare issues.
The delegation consisted of the Stray Animal Control Team Tbilisi City Assembly along with ARC Georgia.
The group saw first hand the daily operations of The Mayhew Animal Home and also visited Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Thanks to The Mayhew's close collaboration with Brent Council animal welfare services, the Georgian representatives met with the Mayor of Brent and their animal welfare services team to find out more on local authority initiatives.
We were also welcomed back to the Georgian Embassy to meet with the Ambassador, who wished to meet with the group to share his opinions. The Ambassador continued to offer his assistance to the proposals.
Finally, at WSPA we attended a seminar on stray animal control. Joy Lee (Member Society Development Manager Europe WSPA) and Elly Hiby (Companion Animals Director WSPA) offered a brainstorming session on the base reasons for the cause of the issue in Tbilisi and potential solutions to the issue. This was a very informative session and encouraged the representatives from Tbilisi City Assembly to look deeply into the route of the problem when they return to Georgia.
The future:
Mayhew International will continue to work to improve the animal welfare situation in Georgia. Together with WSPA we can work in an advisory and active level to help promote improved standards country wide. The proposed suggestions from the conference were the following:
- Animal welfare legislation currently in place will be amended and further developed to fit the needs for Tbilisi and Georgia as a whole. The Animal Welfare Act (2006) in the United Kingdom can act as a guide for best practice;
- Improved interaction must occur at government and non-government level to encourage improved communication;
- Further efforts must be made to conduct a survey at regional level to understand the population levels of stray animals;
- Education of children and the public must be continued to augment public understanding for the project;
- Root causes behind the stray animal populations in Georgia must be identified and acted upon;
- Collaboration with veterinary personnel on the projects must be encouraged and professional development continued