The state and local self-governments annually allocate millions of funds for care abandoned animals. Shelters should be just one of the stops on the way to their adoption.
However, for a large number of dogs in Serbia, that journey ends much earlier. According to the testimonies of local activists, animals in these places die from disease, malnutrition and inadequate conditions.
How much do abandoned animals cost the state?
All local governments in whose territory there are abandoned animals have the obligation to organize zoohygiene service in order to catch and take care of abandoned animals. Although the Animal Welfare Act passed in 2009 mandates that local governments must establish this service and build shelters, many cities have not done so to date.
Photo: Jelena Banac ArchiveShelter for dogs and cats in Nova Gajdobra
Jelena Banac from the Movement's animal protection team "Go-change", explains that in 2011, animal hygiene jobs were introduced into the utility sector, thus opening up the possibility for private companies to deal with them.
"First of all, these companies collect millions of dollars that municipalities set aside for solving the problem of abandoned dogs. In addition to treating animals extremely inhumanely and tens of thousands of dogs being lost, their way of working, catching and expelling dogs spread infectious parvovirus and puppy diseases throughout Serbia. They also harm farmers, because starving animals in search of food attack domestic animals. This entails new spending of money for compensation for dog bites and the damage caused to agricultural households," explains Banac for "Vreme".
According to the latest report of the State Audit Institution from 2021, Serbia allocated 6,4 billion dinars in the period from 2017 to 2020 to solve the problem of abandoned animals.
Kamenovo - chicken coop or shelter
Local activists, together with "Kreni-Promeni", have been visiting shelters and animal hygiene in the country for two years.
A large number of shelters are not easy to reach. Those in Bačka Topola, Niš and Loznica are located next to the landfill itself, and in Ruma and Jagodina next to the wastewater treatment plant.
If you find a shelter, you will usually be greeted by a "no photography" or "no entry" sign. And if you somehow manage to get in, you have a lot to see - dogs, often malnourished and in unhygienic conditions, permanently closed in boxes.
Photo: Jelena Banac ArchiveInjured dog in the shelter of the Agricultural Cooperative from Kamenovo
"The latest discovery and one of the most gruesome is the shelter of the Agricultural Cooperative from Kamenovo, registered in the APR for the predominant activity of apple fruit production. They keep as many as 460 dogs in the village of Veliko Laole near Kamenovo, in the building of a former chicken farm, in small cages, in the dark, without ventilation, without the possibility of movement," says Banac.
It is about private animal hygiene, which has been receiving tenders for years in the municipalities of Varvarin, Petrovac na Mlavi, Kladovo, Gradište, Paraćin and Ćićevac. During 2025, they were engaged in 10 municipalities, and the total value of the contract, according to "Kreni-promeni" data, was more than 47 million dinars.
In mid-August, a criminal complaint was filed against this institution.
Photo: Jelena Banac ArchiveDogs found in the shelter of the Agricultural Cooperative from Kamenovo
Euthanasia for 1 dinar
The situation in the shelter in Požega is also alarming. In the period from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2025, 6452 dogs were caught, of which 1990 were euthanized, and as many as 2310 died, according to data obtained by "Kreni-promeni". Only 197 of them were adopted.
"There we see an example of the dubious work of the veterinary station to which PUC 'Naš dom Požega' entrusts the work of providing veterinary care. Look at the miracle, we are talking about the station 'Vetokomerc' which is owned by Milan Božić, the former president of the municipality of Požega, against whom proceedings were conducted due to corruption," says Banac.
He adds that this is not the only case in which they noticed irregularities in the provision of veterinary services, and that at the recent tender announced in Loznica, the work was won by a veterinary station which, as he states, made an offer of 1 dinar for the euthanasia service.
Inefficiency of veterinary inspection
One of the shelters from which local activists have also rescued animals on several occasions is located in Nova Gajdobra, not far from Bačka Palanka.
Namely, the Animal Protection Association "Sape Bačka Palanka" together with "Pet Mondo" last year in February entered for the first time, "pulled out" and later euthanized about fifty dogs.
Photo: Jelena Banac ArchiveThe dog Dušica, who was rescued by "Kreni-promeni" from the shelter in Nova Gajdobra
Then, according to the director of Šapa Bačka Palanka, Bojana Radovanović, they found a "catastrophic situation" - emaciated animals living in feces.
This shelter, which is managed by the Public Utility Company "Komunalprojekt", was closed by inspection in 2018, 2025, and the last time at the end of March this year, after an appeal by the association for animal protection and public pressure, it was closed for not providing adequate veterinary care.
The shelter was recently reopened after signing a new contract with the veterinarian.
"The last time we personally visited the shelter was two or three weeks ago. Now it was clean, the dogs were well fatted. The biggest problem right now is that they don't allow photos to be taken. They only allow visits once a week. If the goal of the shelter is adoption, you should publish photos. If you have a capacity of 150 dogs, then you will reach those 150 in a moment. What will you do next?", says Radovanović.
Jelena Banac believes that the "constant opening and closing" of one and the same shelter is a consequence of the inefficiency of the veterinary inspection.
"For them, the veterinary inspection orders some cosmetic changes - increase the fence, strengthen the grid, etc. She should, first of all, visit the shelters much more often", explains Banac.
National strategy
Vanja Bajović, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, points out to "Vreme" that in order to improve the situation with abandoned animals in the country, it is necessary to implement the CNR program ("catch-sterilize-release").
"The law does not prescribe that, but leaves it up to each municipality to come up with programs on its own. We had an example in practice where a municipality came up with a program to reduce the number of abandoned dogs by ordering everyone to keep dogs on a chain," Professor Bajović points out.
Jelena Banac adds that the key lies in the national strategy for the humane reduction of the population of abandoned dogs and cats, as well as that it is necessary to move animal hygiene out of communal activities and bring it under veterinary.
"The issue of animal welfare is an issue of corruption, spending huge public funds, abuse, violation of laws and regulations. In other words, it is about torturing and killing animals at the expense of citizens," concludes Banac.
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