Packs are attacking us, associations talk about the rights of dogs, not people

The majority of Sarajevo citizens who participated in the survey by the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP) believe that stray dogs pose a real danger on the streets of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in many other cities in the country.

When asked whether they would approve of emergency euthanasia for thousands of stray dogs that bite, on average, three people every day on the streets of Sarajevo, the largest portion of respondents answered that they love dogs, but that in the situation Sarajevo finds itself in, euthanasia is the only solution for dogs that attack passersby.

According to data from the Institute for Emergency Medical Assistance of Sarajevo Canton, in the first eight months of 2014 alone, as many as 678 people sought emergency medical assistance due to dog bites, which is 95 more bites than in the same period last year.

Almost all respondents who participated in this survey said they do not hate dogs, but that their excessive number on the streets has become a major problem for most cities in BiH.

On the other hand, a large number of respondents said it is unclear how it is possible that various non-governmental organizations, which present themselves as associations for the protection of dogs, despite the large number of attacks by stray dogs on people, do not want the dog population on the streets to be reduced.

The largest number of respondents believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not economically strong enough to be able to place all stray dogs in shelters or sterilize them, so they say that all these actions are just a front for money laundering and that there is certainly room for the prosecutor's offices in BiH.

Laura Tripković, a Sarajevo resident from the Grbavica neighborhood, who has two minor children, said she fears for her children every day until they return from school.

- Dogs have scared my children several times when they were returning home from school. Now I am always worried about them. I taught them not to cross large parks alone and to always stay near adults, I see no other safety for them – said Tripković.

Mirsada Šarac, an education worker at an elementary school in Alipašino polje, said she hears from children every day about the problems they have with stray dogs.

- These dogs move around in the yards around our schools. Sometimes they are calm, and sometimes they scare the children. It often happens that a fight breaks out between packs, in which children who find themselves near them can also get hurt – says Šarac.

Emina Šehić from the Ciglane neighborhood said she trusted the dogs in her street and never had problems with them before, but for several weeks now she has been giving them a wide berth, because they attacked her neighbor, who, like her, fed them every day.

- We don't know what happened, but suddenly the pack of dogs, which we all in the street called 'our dogs', went after the woman they knew very well. The veterinarian explained that the dogs were disturbed by the fact that the unfortunate woman loudly called out to a friend, after which they attacked her – said Šehić.

- By this logic, citizens must start adapting to dogs. Well, that is shocking – adds this Sarajevo resident.

In the morning hours today, a woman was brought to the University Clinical Center in Sarajevo, who was attacked and bitten by dogs in the Sedrenik neighborhood. Two days earlier, a woman with bites from stray dogs was also brought to the Emergency Medicine Clinic, NAP reports.