Karapetyan: Zohrabyan Should Avoid Using Facts That Conflict With Reality in Public Discourse

The press secretary of the Yerevan Mayor, Hakob Karapetyan, wrote on his Facebook page: "It is understandable that Naira Zohrabyan's nervous reaction to the issue of stray dogs. It is easy to present a pleasant bill that protects dogs from torture, but it is difficult to bear the political responsibility for it, especially when the side effects of this pleasant law, in the form of public reaction, are not so pleasant.

In any case, I believe that the highly respected Ms. Zohrabyan should avoid using facts in public discourse that conflict with reality. Specifically, on her Facebook page, Ms. Zohrabyan wonders why 'their council members' went to the Stray Animal Neutralization Center and saw no animals. Of course, they saw none, and that is a good thing, because the center is not a shelter for animals, but a place where animals are neutered, vaccinated, and immediately released.

If visitors to the center see many dogs in the area after noon, it would not be normal; it would mean that the gathered dogs are not undergoing proper procedures. This thought is echoed by Ms. Zohrabyan and her party members during corresponding broadcasts on relevant television channels, also mentioning that the director of the center receives 850,000 drams. In reality, we can inform from open sources that the director of the 'Stray Animal Neutralization Center' receives a salary of 350,000 drams after taxes, which is directly 500,000 less than what the honorable MP mentioned.

Perhaps for MPs with warm ties to sheikhs and others, the difference of 500,000 is not noticeable, but for the average Armenian, it is a significant difference that cannot be overlooked. The issue of stray animals is a complex problem, and indeed, the legislative changes criminalizing the torture of dogs have somewhat complicated it. However, this should never be an excuse to abandon the principle that the coexistence of people and animals in the city must be regulated without cruelty.

Over the past year, the center has done great work under semi-field conditions in a temporary clinic, sterilizing around 3,000 animals, and this year's target is even higher. Besides that, in a few weeks, the main clinic of the center will be ready, which will further increase the efficiency of the work."