04/09/20 Unique information center for lost and abandoned animals
Ministry of Agriculture
Department of Veterinary and Food Safety
Planinska 2a
10 000 Zagreb
Subject: Enrolment in the Unified Information Center for Lost and Abandoned Animals
Dear Mrs. Karačić,
It has been over half a year since the enrolment of the Unified Information Center for Lost and Abandoned Animals and we express our satisfaction because that’s how a legal and logistical basis for all data on animals awaiting adoption in shelters was created in one place and in an accessible way.
However, by reviewing the website of the Unified Information Center for Lost and Abandoned Animals, we noticed that as many as seven shelters for abandoned animals have still not entered any animals in the database, and some shelters do not enter dog identification marks. The problem is that some of the shelters do not update the base regularly, so they do not enroll dogs that arrived at the shelter for months, and some only enroll those dogs that arrived at the shelter after the base started working, although dogs that have been at the shelter before that are still there.
We also noticed that many shelters do not indicate that dogs have been neutered. Castration is a legal obligation of the shelter and all abandoned animals must be neutered, which must also be clearly stated in the Unified Information Center.
Due to all the above, the Unified Information Center for Lost and Abandoned Animals is losing meaning because it does not include all the animals and all the information about them in the shelter system.
Therefore, we ask you to, as a body that issues decisions according to which shelters can start working and which is responsible for the only Information Center for Lost and Abandoned Animals, send a written request to shelters to start enrolling animals and to complete the incomplete data.
If the shelters do not act in a way that they regularly and accurately enter the information about the received animals, the Unified Information Center will not fulfill the function provided by the Law on animal protection.
Here we also enclose a letter sent by Animal Friends Croatia to all local self-government units informing them about the Unified Information Center, as well as a letter sent to the media.
Please let us know when and if you will accept our request.
Respectfully,
Luka Oman,
president of Animal Friends Croatia and special adviser to the Minister of Agriculture for the protection of animals
Zagreb, April 9th, 2020.
