Contact embassy, officials about trapped, starving cats

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This action is partially copied HERE as an alternative to the  previous alert about the bulls, the action which PETA removed from their site.  Even if you have already, please participate again in this alert as there is a new contact and new translation, thank you.

Background | Source CBS News

City authorities in the Belarusian capital of Minsk are carelessly trapping stray cats in locked basements, dooming them to starvation, animal activists say.

Elena Titova, leader of the animal rights group Protect Life, says the ex-Soviet nation has no long-term shelters to house stray animals. She estimated that about 9,000 strays have been killed in the Belarusian capital alone over the past three years.

“Killing the animals with impunity has become a government policy,” Titova said Monday. “This barbarian policy can be described as `No animal, no problem.’ They find it easier to kill them as they don’t have to build shelters.”

City authorities say they must isolate the basements of apartment buildings in line with Soviet-era health rules to prevent rodents from getting in.

“Cats and residents will scream for a while and then they will calm down,” said Alexander Yubkov, a city worker who has welded iron covers on basement windows.

He said if workers did not secure basements “sanitary officials will come and order us to pay a fine.”

Minsk resident Karolina Litvinova said authorities don’t bother to check whether there are no animals left in a basement before shutting it.

“My heart aches to hear how the animals, whom they have walled up, are screaming day and night,” said 72-year-old Antonina Gayenko, a retiree who was feeding some cats through small holes in the iron plates. “They have doomed them to death from thirst and hunger.”

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PETITION

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WHOM TO CONTACT

Email Block:

info@minsk-region.gov.by ; mgik@minsk.gov.by ; mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by ; kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by ; kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by ; usa.ny@mfa.gov.by

Individual:

The Honorable Boris Batura
Chair
Minsk Oblast Executive Committee
info@minsk-region.gov.by

The Honorable Vladimir Yevguenyevich Kukharev
First Deputy Chair
Minsk City Executive Committee
mgik@minsk.gov.by

The Honorable Alexander Sergeyevich Avramenko
Director
Minsk City Executive Committee Department of Housing Policy
mgik.jil.pol@minsk.gov.by

The Honorable Viktoria Markov
Deputy Director of Housing
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.stroy@minsk.gov.by

The Honorable Natalia Arturovna Yuditskii
Deputy Director of Construction Investment Projects
Minsk City Executive Committee of Construction and Investments
kom_stroy.invest@minsk.gov.by

Belarus is a dictatorship, but they do have an embassy in the United States. They can be reached here:
usa.ny@mfa.gov.by


SAMPLE COMMENT | SOURCE PETA


SUBJECT: Пожалуйста, освободите котов, заточенных в подвалах!


Пожалуйста, освободите котов, заточенных в подвалах!

Я была шокирована, узнав, что бездомные коты в Минске оказываются, по недосмотру, заперты в подвалах домов, опечатанных для исключения грызунов. Принуждение животных умирать от голода и обезвоживания – жестоко и антисанитарно. Трупы вызовут зловоние в домах, огорчат жильцов и соседей, а также приведут к еще большему количеству грызунов в этих местах.

Пожалуйста, освободите всех котов из опечатаных подвалов. Размещение всего нескольких тряпок, пропитанных аммиаком (животные ненавидят этот запах) в этих местах, приведет к тому, что все коты покинут подвалы. По прошествии 24-х часов входы в подвалы могут быть опечатаны. Благодарим Вас за внимание.

NAME


TRANSLATED COMMENT | SOURCE PETA



SUBJECT: Please Free Entombed Cats From Sealed Basements!


Dear Honorable Batura, Honorable Kukharev, Honorable Avramenko, Honorable Markov, and Honorable Yuditskii:

Please Free Entombed Cats From Sealed Basements!

I was shocked to learn that cats in Minsk are being inadvertently entombed in basements when the buildings are sealed to keep out rodents. Forcing these animals to die from starvation or dehydration is extremely cruel and unsanitary. Carcasses will cause buildings to smell, upsetting occupants and neighbors while attracting more rodents to the area.

Please free any trapped cats. Placing multiple rags soaked with ammonia in basements will drive out all animals (they hate the smell). After 24 hours have elapsed, entry points can be safely sealed. Thank you for your consideration!

NAME

here we are, locked in this tomb.
it is dark in here, and filled with
gloom.
no water,no food,
we cannot lift our heads.
what did we do to
end up so slowly and
painfully,
dead.
please help us authorities
ofminsk, belarus.
open these torture chambers
and let us loose.

signed,
the cats!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson