Why is Jackie at the head of the column?

Since in Novi Sad on January 24, during the protest, the medical vehicle of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina rushed through the crowd and ran over the city dog ​​Dona, dogs have become one of the symbols and mascots of the new movement. At that moment, just like the previous days, Donna was in the protest column together with the citizens. But unlike most of the city dogs throughout Serbia who suffered a similar fate of dying on the street, Donna's trampling started an avalanche of events and encouraged the empathy and concern of the general public for these animals.

The very next day, at the "Movement for the People and the State" rally in Jagodina, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, criticizing the media, said: "And then they said that they trampled on someone's house somewhere, there is nothing they didn't make up." The president was not only denied by the video of the dog being trampled, which immediately went viral, but also the Clinical Center of Vojvodina announced that their vehicle had run over the dog and that the police and the prosecutor's office had responded.

A day later, on January 26, a rally dedicated to Dona was held in Novi Sad with banners such as "All dogs go to heaven" and "You will not trample on us", and then more and more people came to the protests with dogs, many brought stuffed animals, and in the crowd appeared banners "We will not forgive Dona" and "Don't forget me, I was with you".

There are many more situations in which animals were equal actors, heroes or victims of protests - like when a dead white rabbit was hanged on the fence of the Novi Sad Elementary School "Jovan Popović" and left hanging, or when two dogs from Stara Pazova walked with students to Inđija and slept on Styrofoam there. Both dogs - until then abandoned animals from the street - were adopted immediately.

The dogs' appearance in the media, meanwhile, has fueled old questions about why Donna was on the street in the first place. Vanja Bajović, a professor of criminal law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, who devoted a lot of time and effort to dogs in her scientific work, recently published a small analysis that explains why Dona is a victim of corruption.

"According to the data available on the website of the International Cynological Federation, Serbia had 2022 puppies in 48.690, and 2021 in 61.974, registered through the Cynological Association of Serbia," explains Professor Bajović, adding that for comparison, Switzerland has around 7.000 and Austria around 8.000 puppies. These are purebred dogs for which the Kennel Club has issued pedigrees. Since the price of publishing one pedigree is 2500 dinars, it turns out that the income of the Kennel Club on that basis is more than one million euros per year. Professor Bajović notes that the issuance of a pedigree is not conditioned by prior vaccination or chipping of the dog, so there is no ownership control. How is it possible that five times more puppies than in other European countries are born in Serbia, only in litters of proprietary, purebred dogs? What then happens to these dogs?

"Some are sold, some are exported and sold abroad through secret and unofficial channels with fake passports - which falls under the scope of organized crime that passes under the 'radar', and a large number end up on the street, where the greatest number die, and the rare ones who survive create new hordes of street dogs", concludes Vesna Bajović.

Analyzing the regulations, the "Vremena" interlocutor explains that the Animal Welfare Act (Article 82) prescribes a fine for abandoning animals, but that in the period from 2009 to 2024, only seven misdemeanor proceedings were initiated in Serbia on this basis. The same law stipulates (Article 59) that the sale of dogs can only be carried out in kennels registered in the Register of the Veterinary Administration. The number of kennels registered in the Register in Serbia is 80, while as many as 4385 kennels are advertised on the website of the Kennel Club of Serbia (see box - interview with Professor Bajović). Why is it possible to breed, sell and throw dogs out onto the street without any control or punishment, despite clear regulations and prescribed penalties?

photo: phonet

When they become too old or too sick to reproduce, or are "fatted", purebred dogs themselves become street strays, where they meet countless other mixed breeds. Professor Bajović points out that according to the same law (Article 66), local self-government units are obliged to provide shelters for animals on their territory, but that as many as two-thirds of local self-governments have not fulfilled this obligation. A fine was prescribed for the responsible persons, but despite this, from 2009 to 2024, no proceedings were initiated on this basis. Many of the existing city asylums are in such a state that they are often closed to the public. The few pictures from the shelter that do come to light mostly depict gruesome conditions, suffering, disease, hunger and torture.

At the same time, local self-government units are obliged under the Veterinary Law (Article 46) to organize animal hygiene services whose job it is to catch abandoned dogs and take them to shelters. Out of 174 units of local self-government in Serbia, only 49 have established an animal hygiene service, while the others, according to Professor Bajović's information, conclude contracts with private companies that only transfer dogs to other locations or even kill them.

Do we have the strength, as in the case of the student demands, to insist that the institutions of this country that are supposed to care for animals do their job and apply the laws? Perhaps it is Donna's destiny that after her death she will help raise awareness of the animal suffering that has been right before our eyes all this time.

There are corrupt activities in the background