08/26/11 Report Against the Association of Animal Friends "ZOO-CRO" for Torturing and Illegaly Displaying a Snake

| More

Veterinary office Rijeka
Porec Branch
Rajka Lesic Mudric
Obala Marsala Tita 4
52440 Porec

Veterinary office Varazdin
Varazdin Branch
Marija Stancic
Kratka 1
42000 Varazdin

August 26, 2011

Subject: Report against the Association of animal friends "ZOO-CRO" for torturing and illegaly displaying a snake

Dear Madam,

Based on many complaints from citizens and especially foreign tourists we are addressing you with a report against the Association of animal friends "ZOO-CRO."

The alleged association allows citizens to have their picture taken with a snake in the streets of the town of Porec, which, in addition to regulations from the Animal Protection Act, violates the Penal Code and the Nature Protection Act, and endangeres human lives and health.

The association allegedly collects fund to feed the animals, which makes it worthwhile to examine where the other animals are kept, what their living condions are, and whether those animals belong to protected or endangered species, which is why we are sending a copy of this report to the Inspection for the Protection of Nature. These actions are a violation of regulations of the Animal Protection Act (Article 4, Paragraphs 11, 12 and 13), which prohibits using animals in performances, displaying animals in adverse hygenic conditions different from the requirements of the species and forcing animals to a behaviour which causes pain, suffering, injuries or death.

Snakes are not social animals, and as such do not enjoy the abundance of contact to which they are exposed in this case. They prefer warm and wet places, and when they feel threatened, they escape to places they can crawl into. In addition to violating the Animal Protection Act, keeping the animal in an open space fraught with danger for hours at a time can be considered torture, which is punishable by the Penal Code (Article 260, Paragraph 1).

Exposing an animal to unneccessary suffering in order to gain profit, and possibly exposing the snake to a difficult condition by withholding food or water during transport from Vinica in Varazdin County, where the association is registered, is also punishable by the Penal Code. Therefore we have also submitted a demand to raise criminal charges.

In regard to all mentioned above, we ask that measures be taken urgently in order to prevent further displaying and exploiting the snake, which has been taking place on a public city surface and apparently for a long time.

It is surprising that competent institutions and state and local authorities, as well as the Tourist Office of the town of Porec, to which tourists have complained, have failed to intervene. We emphasize that this report from citizens is not the only one, but that citizens have complained of many cases of animal exploatation and abuse, especially during the tourist season, which is bad for animals, but also for the reputation of Croatian tourism.

We expect that you take measures urgently to stop the public displaying and exploting of the snake for profit. We ask that you should inform the relevant institutions about all irregularities that you may notice during your inspection and that are not directly linked to the Animal Protection Act. We expect your written statement about the undertaken measures and actions.
Respectfully,

Luka Oman
President

Enclosed:

CC:

Related Topics

Similar

Actions

Reactions, Demands and Reports

Facebook preporuke

We recommend AVALON web hosting