14th November 2011 Romanian Press/Media To whom it may concern Reference: Dawn of a new era in European relations and

Romanian animal welfare It is with great delight to inform the press of Radauti of the negotiations that have taken place over the last few weeks between The Mayor of Radauti, local councillors, the Romanian animal welfare group Radauti Group of Animal Welfare (RGAW) and ourselves, a UK charity that talks are very positive and hopefully are nearing their conclusion. At a time when Romania's image internationally, especially within Europe is at an all time low because of the mistreatment of the strays in Romania, it is a refreshing change due in part to your own Mayor and the councillors of Radauti that this European Alliance is taking place. We are honoured to have been offered the opportunity by your mayor and council officials as the only UK based registered charity that focuses on helping Romanian animals, to enter discussions and form a collaboration to help the citizens of Radauti effectively deal with the strays within your region as well as supporting and advising the animal welfare group Radauti Group for Animal Welfare in their proposal to run and manage the shelter to EU standards. The basics that have been agreed by the town hall if RGAW take over management of the shelter: As previously in place, the town hall will continue to pay for the basic upkeep, maintenance and core staff of the public shelter. This will be done by way of an annual budget being allocated specifically for the shelter. That the utilities that include water and electricity will provide for separate meters to be installed to allow the shelter and the zoo to be independent of each other. Allowing for better budgeting of public funds To continue to provide the services of dog catchers via the local zoo, but on the proviso that a member of RGAW are present at all times of capturing, to allow for their supervision and to ensure EU and Romanian animal welfare laws are upheld at all times. RGAW with support of our charity proposes the following and what is currently being discussed: Will provide in addition to the decided budget a further 25% in the form of extra veterinary treatments, monthly spay and neuter clinics (30 dogs per month) as well as within that 25% providing for the shelter extra items that will be needed to ensure the dogs are cared for to EU standards Provide interior medical items and furnishings for medical/operation room and renovate to EU expected standards. Will provide materials for/to renovate a Quarantine room

To provide for all dogs in the shelter to be tagged/tattooed and daily logs of each animal to be maintained In reference to regular neuter clinic, professional services of a veterinarian, a technician and 1 personnel will be provided for. Every 3 months, a spayathon to be organised that will allow FREE neutering of dogs and cats from within the community Regular community events to be organised by the shelter management and staff such as fun dog shows and family days to encourage community solidity and also promote local businesses The organising and implementation of educational programmes for good pet ownership within the community including informational leaflets, Free samples of pet food, money off vouchers for veterinarian services and so on

What is still being negotiated and discussed: The annual shelter budget. As this was amalgamated with the zoos spending this is currently being decided upon. There is an absolute need for the shelter and the zoo's income and outgoings to be kept separate from each other, as this has caused ineffective and mismanagement of public funds in previous years. Will the budget be paid directly to the shelter management or will they simply invoice the town hall. RGAW and we propose that because of previous years where the zoo and shelter monies were collated together, only by allowing the shelter management to manage their own budget will public money be spent efficiently and transparently. Also how much of a say will the new management have in regards to choosing the best providers of food and so on. RGAW and we propose that the new management should be able to manage the shelter budget and to whom it is paid. We wish the public to get value for money but at the same time for the dogs to be provided with good quality food. It is our view that currently poor quality food is being purchased at a high quality prices , this is not fair to the tax payer. Catch, neuter and release programmes rather than the current catch and keep method, RGAW and our charity propose CNR as this method has been proven to be more effective at controlling strays and in the long run will be more cost effective to the tax payer. Please see below our arguments for catch,neuter and release as opposed to the ineffective method of catch and keep.

Why Catch, Neuter and Release works as opposed to the current Catch and Keep methods: We are all aware of the stray dogs numbers escalating out of control in Romania, we also know that the root cause of this is because of lack of effective dog management and education on this subject. Yourselves just like many other European countries have in the past, have chosen the catch and keep method, and as we found ourselves in our own history this is ineffective, costly and actually promotes the strays left on the street to breed far more. Thankfully because your mayor and his councillors care for your regions citizens as well as wanting to save the Romanian tax payer money that is currently wasted on ineffective stray management and care. After receiving our literature based on scientific evidence and internationally respected animal behaviourist reports, are considering our proposal of catch neuter and release within Radauti than the current catch and keep methods. Like other parts of Europe realised many years ago, your mayor and councillors are beginning to understand the positive impact that CNR would have on your region in regards to decreasing the

large amount of strays in your area. This is a crucial part of the negotiations and we hope that they will decide upon this method with the support of the Radauti community. As previously mentioned, CNR programmes have been proven to be the only effective way to decrease the stray issue. Under the shelter management the strays of Radauti would be caught, neutered, tattooed or tagged and then released back into the area in which they were caught. The shelter would retain only the vulnerable and problematic dogs who will be cared for properly to EU standards, and once they are again healthy or rehabilitated will be promoted for adoption outside of Romania. It is extremely important that the dogs are tagged before being released back into the area they were caught is to allow careful monitoring of the dog population, as well as easy identification to the dog catchers to know which ones not to recapture. This will allow the public to see by the monitoring records where your money is being spent, and how effective the CNR programme is working. Not only is the CNR more effective than the current catch and keep procedure, but is is more humane and year on year will save the public money. This is because currently for every dog caught the town hall is billed, then for its care, its euthanasia and subsequently its cremation. This on average costs the tax payer approx 100 Euros per dog. With the proposed CNR programme, the only cost to the public would be for the capture, the neutering and then the release and care and treatment of dogs who are unable to be released because of ill health or behavioural issues. This on average would cost the public purse approx 40 Euros per dog that is neutered and released and the cost for the dogs needing to remain or be treated at the shelter will be less as under the new strict management of RGAW public money will be spent wisely but effectively, we expect to be held accountable to yourselves and will ensure we are able to provide full accounts, reports and monitoring information upon request from the public. Why CNR is an effective form of stray management: It has been scientifically proven by experts that a region that uses this method to manage strays sees a decrease after 5-7 years by 90% as opposed to the catch and kill methods that only increases more unwanted births and subsequently causing more of a problem for the public and community than helping the situation, creating even more pressure on shelter funds and abilities. The reason the catch and kill method encourages more strays is very simple. In every area there will be a certain number of humans, these humans with their food waste etc are seen as a food source for the strays. Nature and instinct will dictate how many strays an area can provide for. This means that for example if in one area there are 10,000 people, there waste etc is enough to provide for 2,000 dogs. It is within an animals behaviour to defend its territory, its food source from outside dogs. When you catch and kill an adult dog from an area, you have then created an unnatural space in that territory for an outside dog (normally un-neuterd). This dog will mate with other un-neuterd dogs within that area and the stray population increases. It is a known fact that a single pair of breeding dogs can within their lifetime and that of there children, can produce on average 67,000 pups. The catch neuter and release programme works with nature rather than against it. By catching, neutering and releasing an adult dog back into the care it was caught, no space has been created for an outside breeding dog to enter. That adult dog will still be there to defend its territory but unlike before, it will not be able to reproduce. So for a period of 5-7 years the pack size decreases as there are no unwanted births and nature subsequently takes it course and the pack size decreases naturally. Without causing unnatural spaces within the pack to be filled, naturally declining the need to breed also. Because there will be more

dogs neutered than un-neuterd, this will biologically affect each stray, there will be less aggressive behaviour and less territorial disputes within the pack and so on. We hope that the citizens of Radauti, as does your mayor and councillors see how the collaboration between your town hall, RGAW and our charity will benefit not only the animals but also your community. We also hope that you are now able to see the benefits of Catch Neuter and Release as opposed to catch and keep and in doing so will support our proposal to be implemented in your region as well as effective future management of your public dog shelter. Our sincerest best wishes

On behalf of our charity Romania Animal Aid www.romaniaanimalaid.co.uk