Cases of cruelty to cats are increasing in Mirabad

A meeting of the leaders of Uzbekistan's leading animal protection organizations - the "Mehr va Aqibat" Animal Protection Society, the "Hayot" Animal Protection Society, the "Ecolog" Public Association, and the "Mehr" Shelter for Stray Dogs - was held in Tashkent. The main topic of the meeting was the failure of officials to comply with presidential decrees on the protection and humane treatment of animals.

The participants of the meeting noted that the implementation of the presidential decree “On measures to transform the sphere of ecology and environmental protection and organize the activities of the authorized state body” adopted on May 31, 2023 has not yet been ensured. In particular, the Prosecutor General's Office was supposed to increase fines for cruelty to animals by 10 times, as well as develop a mechanism for revoking the right to keep animals from persons who commit violence. However, animal rights activists say that no changes have occurred to date.

Another important decision is that the plan to establish shelters for homeless animals in the regions, as envisaged in the 2024 state program, is not being implemented. Local authorities, citing a lack of funding or the "lack of urgency" of the issue, remain inaction, despite numerous complaints from citizens and cases of cruelty to animals circulating on social media.

In this regard, animal protection organizations signed an open letter to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, asking him to personally supervise the implementation of these initiatives. They emphasized that this is not just someone's desire, but rather documents of state importance, which are being ignored on the ground.

These organizations also sent a letter to the Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Nuriddin Ismailov, asking for clarification on the deadline for submitting the draft law “On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty.” Although this document has been under discussion for a long time, it has not yet been submitted for consideration.

Activists emphasize that they are not against the state, but rather ready to cooperate, develop new initiatives, organize shelters and participate in advocacy work. But now they demand only one thing - that the authorities not turn a blind eye to this problem and not sabotage the decisions they have made.