Incubator-type enclosures where Muscovites can leave an unwanted pet may soon appear in the Russian capital as part of a measure to keep people from abandoning animals on the street, news website Moskva24 reported.
Animal rights activists have suggested installing enclosures for pets similar to “baby boxes,” in which parents can leave an unwanted newborn anonymously and without legal repercussions.
“We constantly see how owners throw pets out on the street where animals are doomed to die slowly,” Svetlana Ilyanskaya, president of the Animals Protection Tribune Center told Moskva24. “It would be better if those owners would leave animals in special boxes where specialists could find them and provide help.”
State Duma deputy Irina Ilicheva, who represents Moscow, thought that such boxes could significantly ease the work of services that catch homeless cats and dogs, Moskva24 reported.
Tatiana Razumovskaya, a zoologist at the Moscow Zoo, told Moskva24 that such boxes should have many compartments to avoid fights between animals.
“Compartments should be not less than one meter long and one meter high, with ventilation and low lights,” she said.
Not all animal rights activists support the idea, however.
“Ok, people will leave their pets in boxes, but what happens next? Pet shelters in Moscow are overcrowded!”, Irina Novozschilova, president of the VITA Center for Animal Protection told Moskva24.
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