European Committee for the Respect of Convention 125 of the Council of Europe

Committee’s Appeal

Dogs in Romania: Abuse and Shame

Reports are pouring in from all sides, and the ones included in this appeal are just a few examples—perfectly documented and based on irrefutable and verified evidence—of the horrors committed in Romania in many public and private shelters, where thousands of dogs are mistreated to death under appalling conditions.

Yet, the peoples of Europe, aware that the way we treat our companion animals distinguishes civilized humanity from barbarism, have established regulations at national and international levels to protect them from all forms of mistreatment.

In 2023, European Parliament Member Martin Buschmann (NI) questioned the European Commission:

‘It is already established in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that Member States are to pay full regard to the welfare of animals as they are ‘sentient beings’. And yet, this is not the reality for stray dogs in many parts of the European Union.

We know, for example, that killing animals is a lucrative business for a large number of Romanian companies.

As an EU Member State, Romania receives subsidies relating to a wide range of sectors. Part of this money goes towards waste and road space management – which includes ‘stray dog management’, whereby stray dogs are captured and killed in municipal facilities.

• What is the Commission already doing to put an end to the killing of stray dogs in the European Union?
• How is the Commission making sure that Article 13 TFEU is being fully implemented?
• In the view of the Commission, what measures are needed to prevent, at least, EU funding from indirectly supporting the capture and killing of stray dogs in Romania (e.g. through dedicated funding for the expansion of castration centres)?’

Submitted: 2.3.2023 

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2023-000706_EN.html

As for the Council of Europe, it adopted the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals (Convention No. 125), which has been ratified by 26 countries, including Switzerland, France, and—without any reservations—Romania in 2004 (effective as of March 1, 2005).
https://rm.coe.int/168007a67d

In its Preamble, the Council of Europe Member States recognize:
‘That man has a moral obligation to respect all living creatures and bearing in mind that pet animals have a special relationship with man;…’

Regarding stray animals, the convention provides the following:

‘Article 12 – Reduction of numbers

When a Party considers that the numbers of stray animals present it with a problem, it shall

take the appropriate legislative and/or administrative measures necessary to reduce their

numbers in a way which does not cause avoidable pain, suffering or distress.

 

a  Such measures shall include the requirements that:

i   if such animals are to be captured, this is done with the minimum of physical and mental suffering appropriate to the animal;

ii   whether captured animals are kept or killed, this is done in accordance with the principles laid down in this Convention;

 

b  Parties undertake to consider:

i   providing for dogs and cats to be permanently identified by some appropriate means which causes little or no enduring pain, suffering or distress, such as tattooing as well as recording the numbers in a register together with the names and addresses of their owners;

ii   reducing the unplanned breeding of dogs and cats by promoting the neutering of these animals;

iii   encouraging the finder of a stray dog or cat to report it to the competent authority.’

It is evident that Romania blatantly violates the convention it ratified in 2004.

 

The Council of Europe’s summary presenting the convention, its list of signatories, and reservations states:

‘The Parties meet regularly to examine the application of the Convention and, if appropriate, to extend or strengthen its provisions.’

It is high time for the Parties to meet and act to ensure that the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals is not treated by some signatory states as a mere scrap of paper but rather as a binding legal commitment that each contracting state has pledged to uphold.

 

This appeal is addressed in particular to the Council of Europe, the European Union Commission, members of the aforementioned international organizations, the press, governments and elected representatives of the states that signed Convention No. 125, animal protection foundations and associations, etc.

Its dissemination is free of charge, and each recipient is invited to share it as widely as possible.

 

                                                              European Committee for the Respect of Convention No. 125 of the Council of Europe*

 

Note: The committee is composed of public figures, legal professionals, and other citizens from European countries. For the protection of Romanian members of the committee, who are threatened in their country for their actions in favour of the convention, their names are not published.

Annexe: Document titled "Public and Private Shelters in Romania."

 

Public and Private Shelters in Romania: Abuse and Shame!

 

The Current Situation

According to numerous on-site testimonies, a true business of suffering and death is taking place in Romania, where abuse and extermination camps kill thousands of dogs annually under unacceptable conditions. These practices are lucrative, funded by local taxes and also by EU subsidies allocated to member states. Many private pounds are regularly emerging ! Since 2013, the year when laws allowing the killing of stray dogs after two weeks from their capture date were implemented, the situation has not changed. There are still as many stray dogs, and increasingly more extermination or mass abuse shelters are opening in the country.

The pressure on dog defenders is growing heavier; a journalist and activist died under suspicious circumstances a few years ago, while, according to testimonies collected on-site, others have seen their homes burned or been directly intimidated. Foreigners and associations from all over Europe have been trying to save stray dogs for decades but are easily scammed by mafia-like networks profiting from animal misery.

Personal Experience

(Testimony from a Swiss citizen, validated by the European Committee for Respecting Convention 125 of the Council of Europe)

"Attempt to rescue 25 dogs from the Aspa Ivets public pound in 2024. 

The dogs selected were healthy upon arrival at the pound (evidence: photos as proof). Within a few days, they contracted canine distemper, a virus that kills thousands of dogs in public and private pounds in the country. The virus spreads from one kennel to another through workers who fail to take precautions. The dogs are not vaccinated, not treated, or even sterilized upon arrival.

• As some of the dogs I had reserved contracted distemper within the walls of the facility, I needed time to find a dog shelter that could take a large group of dogs infected with a deadly virus. During this time (a few days), someone named Adrian Cristi Ghita contacted me on Facebook (using a fake name; his real name is reportedly Miron Alexandru Octavian). He introduced himself as an active volunteer at this pound and a friend of the pound director’s wife. He offered to put my dogs aside in quarantine for a month and give them antibiotic treatments, assuring me they would work as a cure for canine distemper, giving me time to find a private shelter.

When my dogs were placed aside by this person—who alternated between being a man and a woman over the phone and via Messenger—the tone changed, and I received no more updates about my dogs except that they were all very sick. I asked about the treatment they were being given and received a veterinary prescription that turned out to be a forgery! Alarmed, I asked my contacts on-site to visit, fearing that my reserved dogs were not being properly cared for.

• Two trusted individuals visited the pound, where the alleged Adrian Cristi Ghita, accompanied by another individual named Mevlan Cadar, allowed them access to the section where the reserved dogs were kept. This is when we realized we were dealing with people engaging in mafia-like practices: the dogs were literally dying, in unsanitary conditions, with no water or food (evidence: hidden camera footage). One of my contacts managed to negotiate the release of only one dog, who was in critical condition and died a few hours later in a clinic. This young female dog—called Gucci—was healthy upon arrival at the pound (proof: photos before and after). According to the vet who received her as an emergency, she had never received any treatment.
  
  
• This was followed by two weeks of intense negotiations with the threatening accomplices, including the alleged Adrian Cristi Ghita and Mevlan Cadar, to bring food to the dogs, which they refused, turning back a truck filled with kibble that we had prepared. Realizing we had uncovered their scam, they began to act aggressively toward us. For the following two weeks, it was impossible to secure the release of the dogs, even through contact with the official administration of the pound. After several threats demanding money, the alleged Adrian Cristi Ghita and Mevlan Cadar finally issued an invoice that had to be paid immediately! The total was around 1,200 euros (covering the stay at the pound and veterinary treatments that were reportedly never provided, as confirmed by the vet who received several of my dying dogs). Part of the money had to be transferred to a private Revolut account, and the rest via an invoice from a company (Avi Actual Group), which, according to on-site testimonies, has connections to Manuel Istrate, the director of the Aspa Ivets public pound, who allegedly receives kickbacks. This invoice contained no details about the supposed veterinary treatments.
  
  
• But I had no choice; otherwise, all the surviving dogs would have died. I was not allowed to select my own transport company. I paid and they finally delivered the dogs to a trustworthy private shelter. This is when I realized that some of the dogs I had reserved, who had likely died in the meantime, had been replaced by other dogs. Some of these replacement dogs had mammary tumors or were so severely traumatized that they will likely be impossible to get adopted. For nearly half of the dogs that had been saved from ASPA Ivets, it was too late—I lost 10 more dogs, who arrived at the shelter literally dying due to a lack of care, food, and untreated diseases.
• In another public pound (Targu-Jiu), in November last year, I also rescued a female dog and her seven puppies with the help of Laura, a volunteer from Switzerland. Six of the puppies died after leaving the pound because none of them had been dewormed! Another proof that dogs in pounds receive no care, no basic vaccinations, and are left in abominable conditions, if not already dying!”
  
  

Testimony from Ms. O., Switzerland, December 2024

The Facts

• Adrian Cristi Ghita (real name Miron Alexandru Octavian) and Mevlan Cadar appear to head a mafia network. Mevlan Cadar is known, according to numerous publications, for illegal dog trafficking in Europe. She was notably apprehended in Zittau, in 2023, by German federal police, driving a Porsche Cayenne containing 14 puppies. She is also known, including by Romanian police services, for severe animal abuse.

They run questionable dog transport companies operating across Europe, enabling various trafficking operations. Connected to the Aspa Ivets pound (and previously other pounds like Buzau), these individuals reportedly profit by offering foreigners the opportunity to save dogs destined for euthanasia, despite the fact that the capture of these dogs has already been funded by local subsidies. The pound reportedly profits on both sides—receiving subsidies for each captured dog and earning additional money by "selling" dogs (often already very sick due to lack of food and treatment) through fraudulent veterinary treatment fees or quarantine stay charges, even though the stay in the pound is free.

These traffickers fail to vaccinate, treat, or feed the dogs, allowing deadly viruses to spread and leaving dogs to die of starvation and untreated illnesses (evidence: hidden camera footage and other testimonies).

The director of the pound, Manuel Istrate, and his wife officially wash their hands of the incidents, seemingly benefiting indirectly through invoices issued by the company Avi Actual Group. By using intermediaries like the alleged Adrian Cristi Ghita and his accomplice Mevlan Cadar within their institution, Manuel Istrate and his wife claim to distance themselves from the well-known trafficking occurring there.

The Aspa Ivets pound faces over a dozen criminal complaints, none of which have resulted in penalties from Romanian authorities A.N.S.V.A. (Autoritatea Națională Sanitară Veterinară și pentru Siguranța Alimentelor) and D.S.V.S.A(Directia Pentru Sanitară Veterinară și pentru Siguranța Alimentelor București), who are responsible for enforcing sanitary and hygiene standards. This suggests corruption may play a role in the lack of accountability.

Connection with the General Situation in This Country

• According to people in Romania who are trying to intervene against the massive and severe mistreatment of dogs, there is a very powerful mafia profiting from the trafficking of dogs in this country, and it seems that many public and private shelters are part of it.
  
  
• Mayors of cities sign contracts with private shelters when there are no public shelters in their region. This allows them to save costs related to capturing dogs and managing such facilities. Municipalities fund these shelters based on the number of dogs caught. These establishments appear to kick back part of the funds to the municipalities in the form of various benefits (gifts and support) to politicians and mayors.
  
  
• The political elite and possibly parts of the government are aware of the situation and the extent of the mistreatment in the extermination camps that are the country's shelters. However, an "omerta" (code of silence) currently reigns (the media rarely cover the issue, and few locals have been aware of the extent and severity of this for over 10 years).
  
  
• Dog catchers (employed by the shelters) appear to be generously paid, up to 200 euros per dog caught in the streets.
  
  
• In many cases, dog catchers, to make the most money, sweep through regions where they do not have authorization and catch every dog they can.
  
  
• In numerous cases (testimony below), these dog catchers do not hesitate to steal privately owned dogs (by sedating them with darts): healthy and sterilized dogs with collars, living near their homes. Owners have only two weeks to claim them, as after that period, the dogs are killed. Sometimes, euthanasia occurs even before the two-week limit.
  
  

Testimony from Mrs. H., Belgian and Canadian, living in Romania and running a shelter with over 300 dogs since 2015:

“When they are darted by the dog catchers, many dogs don’t survive the doses of sedation. They die during transport, or we find them dying in the streets. Veterinarians we take them to confirm the deadly kidney damage; most sedated dogs don’t make it! Recently, the dog catchers took all the shepherd dogs guarding a flock of sheep; the shepherd lost all his dogs. In December 2024, the dog catchers captured my dog, the mascot of my shelter. She was sterilized, social, 10 years old, and was on our private property! She died due to the sedation.

In 2023, when the dog catchers came to our village for the first time, Istrate himself told me he didn’t have a contract but an ‘arrangement’ with the mayor. Unfortunately, during this raid, the stray dogs in my village, which I knew well and which bothered no one, were deported. I asked to reserve them at the shelter to get them out of there, but those I managed to recover came back infested with ticks, suffering from piroplasmosis, and died two days later from distemper, despite care from my vet!

Later, I reposted a video circulating on social media showing gigantic piles of dog carcasses in the disposal area of the so-called ‘animal resort’ Aspa Ivets, as they like to call it.

Since then, Manuel Istrate, the director of this shelter, has filed repeated complaints against me with the animal police, falsely accusing me of abandoning dogs. Manuel Istrate tags stray dogs with microchips in my name to later accuse me. But none of my dogs has ever escaped from my shelter.

In short, the Aspa Ivets shelter is a true mass extermination camp, full of mistreatment and fraud, operating at both national and international levels, and it must be shut down!

Mrs. H., Romania, January 2025”

• It is impossible to enter these shelters without prior official authorization. According to collected testimonies, even in cases of reported abuse of dogs, the police have been unable to enter. External veterinarians, other than those working for the shelters, are not allowed in without special authorization (even when it concerns a reserved dog).
  
  
• The sector is highly lucrative, as many private shelters are being established, along with trafficking networks.
  
  
• In some shelters, like Aspa Ivets, deadly viruses such as distemper decimate dogs who are neither vaccinated nor treated and are left to die agonizing deaths. No hygiene measures or quarantines are implemented. In other shelters, like Alba, the dogs are kept alive but confined for years, or even their entire lives, in cages smaller than one square meter! (Photo further below)
  
  
• Another important issue: many dogs die during sterilization operations in these shelters, where procedures are performed carelessly, with no regard for the dog's health or age.
  
  

 

 

• Dog Nira, 4 years old (below)
  Arrived in perfect health.
  Approximately four weeks later, he died of illness and starvation.

Out of 25 reserved dogs, 8 died after their stay in the shelter at the end of October. Some others remain very sick and at risk.

Bucharest Pound and its Tiny Cages

CLUJ SHELTER

• Dog Looki, 4 years old
  Arrived in perfect health.
  Approximately four weeks later, he died of illness and starvation.

ASPA IVETS SHELTER

• Dog Zucki, 1 year old
  Arrived in perfect health.
  Three weeks later, he died of illness and starvation.

  Public concern about animal welfare