What you should know before visiting the land of Count Vlad Dracula - the Land of Death
Romania Tourism
Sanity lost! Hope regained?
Viewed through the prism of western civilizations, Romania attracts attention for its unaddressed social issues. Gypsy children, 'the Roma', can be seen foraging for food on rubbish heaps [1] to simply continue survival. Such children are out cast from society, maligned, ostracised, uneducated.
Estimates of the Roma population in Romania vary enormously, but the most realistic estimate suggests that there were 1.5 million Roma in 1998. Estimates are often hampered by the (well-founded) fears of the Roma themselves about stigma, coupled with the lack of training of the census operators when addressing ethnic issues. According to 'Roma Children' [2], more than 50 per cent of Roma live in extreme poverty, with the disparities in housing spilling over into disparities in education, with only 20 per cent of Roma children enrolled in kindergarten in 2000-2001, compared with a national average of 61 per cent.
This picture, as well as the other pictures about the Roma, has been sourced from an article published in Daily Mail.
For more pictures and to read the entire article, please click HERE!
Romania - a land on the other side of sanity!
Socially ostracised, Roma children are a special risk group in terms of health, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with data suggesting that Roma child mortality rates are three to four times higher than those for the majority population or other ethnic groups.
But the Children are the future! And the question must be asked: "Does tomorrow offer the promise of new hope for Romanian society? For Romania's children?" Unfortunately the answer is a resounding 'No'!
Derivatives of the infamous Ceausescu-era, orphanages are full with the abandoned, the unwanted [3], with statistics showing that almost 1,000 children are being abandoned in maternity hospitals each year. Cynicism is palpable and corruption endemic. Nothing however exists in isolation. All are symptomatic factors of a serious societal malaise where violence and abuse are witnessed on the streets. Often the victims are the numerous uncontrolled street animal populations... Categorized as 'vermin' in the public consciousness, they are liberally attacked, mutilated and killed.
86% of children in a recent study [4] identified having witnessed animal abuse in public...
Death on the streets! Not without cost. The innocence of the children whose natural inclination is to relate to these fellow creatures, is challenged and broken by having to witness such horrors. Children react to abuse by desensitizing. Emotional pain is reduced... but so is empathy... compassion for fellow creatures, human and animal.
Animal abuse is symptomatic of a deeper problem and a vast body of research has identified this LINK between animal abuse and inter-human abuse and aggression. The 'Making the Link' study [4] found that those who aggress against animals in Romania are also inclined to express anger against people and property and to be more likely to be involved in crimes such as arson and theft, and to have reduced empathy and display suicidal tendencies.
Abuse and killing of animals in public has brought notoriety to Romania. Such behaviour is unacceptable to western societies. It is morally wrong to express extremes of violence against 'sentient beings' and to allow children to not only be exposed to such violence but also to acquire and perpetrate aggression. Animal abuse is simply symptomatic of a much deeper social malaise where apathy, violence and corruption are woven into the fabric of Romanian society. Aggression which can be readily expressed with a stray animal potential victim on every street corner. Victims devalued as 'extermination-worthy' and therefore socially sanctioned to attack and sometimes kill.
If aggression is learned in the home (Bandura. A - 1973) and because of socio-political factors in Eastern Europe, a ready availability of animal victims exists on the streets, does abuse of animals therefore act as a ‘buffer‘ preventing inter-human aggression or does it promote violent tendencies and serve to increase aggression?
From Levin, J and Arluke, A in 'The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence' ed Andrew Linzey:
"Inflicting injury, suffering or death on an animal, absent of provocation or hostility, gives an individual tremendous psychological pleasure... the malicious youngster rehearses his sadistic attacks - perhaps on animals, perhaps on other people, perhaps on both - and continues into his adult years to perpetrate the same sorts of sadistic acts on human beings. His attacks on animals are serious and personal.
He chooses 'socially valued' or culturally humanized animals - for example dogs and cats - against which to carry out his sadistic aims but he is likely to repeat his abusive behaviour on a variety of animals.
If he later finds a socially acceptable means of compensating for his sense of powerlessness, then he might very well escape the grip of violence perpetrated against humans. If not, his early experience with animal cruelty may become a training ground for later committing assaults, rape, and even murder"
Exposure to abuse has been shown to cause progressive desensitization with attendant reduction in empathy. Abuse within the home is prevalent also. In the 2010 Eurobarometer poll on violence against women, 39% of Romanian respondents said that they thought DV (domestic violence) in their country was "very common", 45% "fairly common", 8% "not very common", 0% "not at all common", and 8% did not know/did not answer.
Victim blaming attitudes are common in Romania. In a 2013 Romanian survey, 30.9% of respondents agreed with the assertion that "women are sometimes beaten due to their own fault". In the Eurobarometer survey, 58% of Romanians agreed that the "provocative behaviour of women" was a cause of violence against women.
The emerging picture is one of a society where empathy reduction and aggression enhancement are resulting factors from the lack of implementation of humane controls. Domestic violence is significant and is enacted and potentially increased because of the availability of the numerous stigmatised free roaming animals. This is now exacerbated by their government sanctioning the 'eradication' of these animals. Availability of socially stigmatized free-roaming animals provides opportunities to enact aggression including killing.
A society is moving away from the central moralities and tenets of other evolved civilizations. A European country is moving away from Europe!
But there is a solution... and the question which must be asked:
"Is there a will to bring this necessary change? To protect the children,
to reduce abuse... and to create a humane, moral society?
The Romanian government estimates that more than 3 million animals live on the streets of Romania. While some are considered community dogs, most of these animals are the victims of practiced aggression and inevitably acquire aggressive tendencies. On 25th of September, 2013, a new law has been introduced to 'eradicate' them by euthanasia. They will be caught and if not adopted or claimed will be 'euthanised'.
It is perhaps unsupprising in a violent society that 'euthanasia' in Romania is euphamistic for 'inhumane slaughter' with cheap chemicals or despatch with ax or shovel being favored. Problem solved! Eradicate the animals and there is no problem.
Unfortunately not!
The WHO advises that killing strategies are always unsuccessful and that a neutering program is the only proven successful strategy. The current attempt by the Romanian government is even more fundamentally flawed as 'owned' dogs will continue to roam and breed with their offspring being thrown onto the streets thereby ensuring a continous cycle of death. As a strategy to introduce societal change, this is therefore a futile and expensive strategy BUT animal disposal is BIG business and its preservation commercially desirable [5] to many including the lawmakers.
The cost for failure...
Let us start with the SUMMARY of monies to be spent by the town hall of Bucharest [5] for 65,000 street animals:
Rounding up of the dogs: 3,211,000 euros
Housing of the dogs: 6,160,700 euros
Euthanasia of the dogs: 733,200 euros
Cremation of the dogs: 812,500 euros
TOTAL: 10,917,400 euros for 65,000 dogs living in Bucharest or 167,96 euros/dog
and then extrapolate this on the entire stray animal population of Romania which the Romanian government estimates at 3 million dogs and intends to reduce by 80%, meaning that 2,400,000 dogs are to be 'eradicated' ('eradication' was the term that they had used during the debate in the Parliament on 10th of September, 2013).
Estimated costs for sterilization, vaccination and registration
The real cost for a sterilization varies between 12 and 16,44 euros (Oradea: 14 euros - Lugoj: 12 euros - RAR: 22 USD = 16,44 euros). This does not include the vaccines, which would add an additional 5 euros per sterilization. The total cost for sterilization and vaccination, if we take the highest price, would then be of 21,44 euros.
The cost to catch a dog should not exceed more than 70 lei (15,5 euros) according to the Authority for the Supervision and Protection of Animals (ASPA) (although it must be noted that the City of Bucharest has signed contracts with three dog-catching companies at a price of 219 LEI per dog, and if we would apply a cost of 219 LEI for the 65.000 dogs of Bucharest instead of the prescribed 70 LEI (difference is 149 LEI), this would mean an additional cost of 9.865.000 LEI = 2.204.680 euros (which is the sum that the Bucharest town hall pays too many)
The cost for micro chipping and registration is about 5 euros per dog (in fact, it's even less: The REAL costs are of 15,55 LEI plus 24% VAT which makes it 19,28 LEI = 4,35 EUR, although it should be noted that statements about the CHARGED costs (not the REAL costs) vary between 15 LEI and 35 LEI but can go up to even 300 LEI)
TOTAL costs for catching, sterilization, vaccination and registration: 15,5 + 16,44 + 5 + 5 = 41,94 euros per dog
In their 'Rabies Report' to the EU-Commission, Romania stated that, in 2011 of an estimated population of 3.72 million (owned) dogs there were 3.42 million dogs recorded as vaccinated against Rabies - anyone who is a bit familiar with the situation in Romania knows this report is a joke, nevertheless it satisfied the European Commission - and Romania's animal protection organisation FNPA says that there are 5 million owned dogs, so let's take the highest figure and assume that there are 5,000,000 owned dogs living in Romania, and 2,400.000 to be 'eradicated' homeless animals, this would mean a total of 7,400,000 dogs living in Romania that need sterilization.
Calculation of the costs for sterilization, vaccination and micro chipping of all owned dogs:
5,000,000 x (41,94 - 15,5 = 26,44) euros = 132,200,000 euros
Calculation of the costs for catching, sterilization, vaccination and micro chipping of 80% of homeless dogs: 2,400,000 x 41,94 euros = 100,656,000 euros
TOTAL to sterilize, vaccinate and register ALL dogs of Romania: 132,200,000 euros + 100,656,000 euros = 232,856,000 euros
Difference between a totally ineffective strategy (the killing of the animals without sterilization of the owned dogs who will simply continue to multiply) and the only proven and humane strategy (which is T-N-R AND the sterilization of all owned dogs, in addition to restricting breeding, outlawing back yard breeding and the education of the populace about responsible animal ownership):
Killing of 80 % of homeless animals: 403,104,000 euros
Nation wide sterilization campaign: -232,856,000 euros
DIFFERENCE (savings): 170,248,000 euros
UPDATE 03/12/2013: Our first calculation was based on a estimation of 3,720,000 owned dogs, according to figures from the Romanian Government and the savings were of 403,104,000 - 199,012,800 = 204,091,200 euros, which we have corrected on December 3, 2013 by using the estimation of Dr Carmen Arsene stating that there are 5,000,000 owned dogs in Romania.
Of course, in reality, the fees to sterilize all owned dogs of Romania would be significantly smaller because many animals (like for example those who are in the care of organisations and volunteers) are already sterilized, vaccinated and micro chipped and only people who cannot afford the costs should benefit from free sterilizations and vaccinations while those who can afford it, should pay for the related fees themselves.
ADDITIONAL NOTE added December 3, 2013:
According to an email received from Dr Carmen Arsene [6], the President of the National Federation for Animal Protection (FNPA) on the so-called 'norms', the Rules of the Law 258/2013, which will be officially presented at the Romanian Embassy in Vienna on 5th of December, 2013, the 'norms" do now include a provision that ALL owned dogs of Romania must be sterilized within one year, which is - of course - not only very commendable but also the ONLY right thing to do.
Unfortunately, in the absence of other provisions, this strategy will not only be unsuccessful, but it will lead to a real disaster for the following reasons:
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There are an estimated 5 million owned dogs in Romania (according to FNPA) and it's impossible to sterilize all these dogs within 12 months (416.666 sterilizations per month, or 18.939 per working day) because there are simply not enough veterinarians in Romania, and even less who can do proper sterilizations.
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Many veterinarians who cannot do sterilizations will commit to do so anyway, resulting in the death of many female dogs. So happened in Arges (a county near Pitesti) when an unqualified veterinarian hired by the municipality "sterilized" all female dogs (about 500) .... the dogs died days later in agony on the streets on the consequences of these "sterilizations"
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Given that the 'norms' do not provide for any financial support to people who can not afford the costs for sterilizations, and to avoid the fine which will be of 2,500 euros for those who will not have sterilized their dogs within one year (the net average salary in Romania being of 350 euros!) many people - especially at the country side where dogs are mostly chained in the garden and used as guard dogs without much "value" - will simply abandon their dogs, like they have always done with dogs that had become useless.
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The abandoned dogs that will now be killed after a '14-days-pre-slaughter-period' spend in one of Romania's death camps, at the expense of the tax-payers, will swiftly be replaced by new dogs that are being abandoned because people can not afford the costs for sterilization, and even less the imposed fines of 2,500 euros in case of non-compliance.
ADDITIONAL NOTE added February 24, 2014:
According to an article published in a Romanian newspaper [8], Bucharest City Hall currently pays 150 LEI per sterilization but since the Management of the College of Veterinarians now requires additional tests to be made prior to surgery, ie electrocardiograms, ultrasounds and blood tests this will raise the costs from 150 to 450 LEI. The College of Veterinarians claims that these additional measures would be necessary to make sure that no dog dies on the operating table. Vier Pfoten, however, see things differently. The NGO claims having sterilized over 150,000 dogs without a single death.
This request from the College of Veterinarians and the fact that the Bucharest City Hall has refused Vier Pfoten's offer to sterilize the dogs for free and prefered to contract with private clinics that charge money for these interventions, shows again that it is all really only about money...
What is important to acknowledge...
Is there not a question to be asked, as to why a country with significant social problems, adopts an historically proven futile strategy using tax payers' money, when a proven successful strategy which would save HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF EUROS AND result in a successful, permanent solution, but is not implemented?
This is public money incineration on a colossal scale! Powerfully profitable, however, to those involved in every step, from the rounding up, till the disposal and processing of the enormous number of animal bodies [7] produced by this policy.
This really is a POWERFUL argument for Romanian politicians to be asking!
The rational, the logic, the history... and the relative costs are all there.
Apart from the EU, it would be suggestive to us that someone in Romania now demands answers as to:
"What the heck are you doing with our money?
With our people? With our country?"
This IS ALL taxpayers' money, isn't it? No EU funding involved in any way?
This picture, as well as the other pictures about the Roma, has been sourced from an article published in Daily Mail.
For more pictures and to read the entire article, please click HERE!
What we believe that we have presented here are the facts, the rationale and the costs indicating financial waste on a colossal scale.
The 'eradication' program is doomed to failure at a cost of MANY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF EUROS in a country where children are scavenging for food on rubbish tips and living in subterranean heating ducts! By implementing a historically proven TNR program, more than 170 Million Euros could be saved and a successful animal control strategy realized.
Perhaps now in this democracy where the people of Romania have a voice, and we have presented here the words for the voice to carry.
Please go forth and use that voice... and use it loudly!
To the strong and the proud of Romania: these facts and figures provide what in any other democracy would create a mandate to challenge confidence in a governing body which exhibited such draconian financial mismanagement and ill-consideration of its society.
Sources & References
1. http://www.errc.org/article/life-in-my-hometown-romani-poverty-in-craiova-romania/752
2. http://www.romachildren.com/?page_id=13#_ftnref2
3. http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/05/roma-m23.html
4. http://makingthelink.wix.com/a-time-for-change#!the-study/cnkz
5. http://www.romaniatourism.biz/#!business/c1f7i
8. http://ro.stiri.yahoo.com/pre%C8%9Bul-steriliz%C4%83rii-c%C3%A2inilor-vagabonzi-ar-putea-tripla-colegiul-143426295.html
Picture source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424296/At-home-Roma-Remote-villages-people-struggle-terrible-poverty-continue-traditional-way-life.html