Introduction
For those who travel to Romania, readily apparent are the numbers of animals living on the streets. Abuse is endemic with many animal corpses littering the streets and constant exposure of local populations to acts of aggression, maiming and slaughter.
In a western society, as a father presents a young puppy to his children, a new 'member of the family', he is aware that only a few countries away, a similar puppy is being hurled into a furnace along with many, many others.
On 25th of September, 2013 Constitutional Court judge Petre Lăzăroiu, suggested that "the mass killing of stray dogs in Romania could traumatize the population"... then the entire place ruled to cull all dogs. And that the eradication of Romania's homeless animals - although it had been ruled unconstitutional in January 2012 - was now 'constitutional'.
On that day, the Romanian Constitutional Court had an opportunity to define whether Romania is a country worthy of being called civilized or whether it should be consigned to popular perception of a country unworthy of being considered anything other than barbaric, mismanaged, corrupt and dangerous. They choose the latter.
And the entire world was both shocked and outraged.
On 25th of September, 2013 the future of an entire country; the fate of many hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of innocent homeless dogs, was determined by the abuse of power of a handful of individuals.
The implementation of Romania's 'eradication program' ("eradication" was the word that they themselves had used during the debate in the parliament) has produced worldwide condemnation and a perception that Romania is a country which introduces medieval practices and governs in a draconian mode. The Romanian government has brought shame to Romania as a whole - the implementation of their 'Slaughter Law' has very negatively affected Romania's image politically and on so many other levels.
The Romanian "Slaughter Law" has polarized Romania's society and made it dangerously divisive, now having a society divided into two groups, namely aggressors of the dogs, and defenders of the dogs.
With this book, animal rights campaigners inform about the financial interests behind this corrupt law; psychologists and world-leading experts in the LINK between exposure to animal abuse and its attendant effect, explain the ramification on the psychological health of Romania's citizens and, in particular, those of the children. Experts explain the effects that it has on the whole of Europe and lawyers demonstrate that the European Commission has the legal competence - and a legal duty - to intervene, and all wonder why the European Institutions still turn a blind eye?
The EU-Commission, along with the Parliament and the Council, are aware of the continued failure of the Romanian government to find a sustainable and humane solution to the problem of surplus dogs in Romania. The utmost cruelty practiced on a daily basis in various parts of Romania in the name of “euthanasia” of dogs is in flagrant breach of European values and of a number of international obligations binding on Romania.
The inability of the EU Commission, so far, to come up with a credible solution has caused citizens of many EU countries to question the entire justification of the existing EU legal framework. In particular, it goes beyond the limits of imagination of a growing number of EU citizens that Romania, a country receiving millions of Euros of financial assistance from other EU countries every year is, at the same time, “entitled” to completely disregard a set of European values.
The question of animal rights and welfare is an integral part of the whole legal system encompassing such issues as human, constitutional and children’s rights. If we allow any aspect of the legal system to be violated, we violate the system as a whole undermining its credibility in the eyes of the public. In this way, we send a message to the public that the law itself can be breached and defied all the more because such a message is being sent by the authorities supposed to be the guardians of law and legal order.
This is the case in Romania.
Therefore, such authorities deserve to be accused of corruption, abuse of power, and unforgivable irresponsibility because they show contempt for such universal values as social stability and the consistency of legal and social order without which no society can operate properly.
In a western society, as a father presents a young puppy to his children, a new 'member of the family', he is aware that only a few countries away, a similar puppy is being hurled into a furnace along with many, many others.
On 25th of September, 2013 Constitutional Court judge Petre Lăzăroiu, suggested that "the mass killing of stray dogs in Romania could traumatize the population"... then the entire place ruled to cull all dogs. And that the eradication of Romania's homeless animals - although it had been ruled unconstitutional in January 2012 - was now 'constitutional'.
On that day, the Romanian Constitutional Court had an opportunity to define whether Romania is a country worthy of being called civilized or whether it should be consigned to popular perception of a country unworthy of being considered anything other than barbaric, mismanaged, corrupt and dangerous. They choose the latter.
And the entire world was both shocked and outraged.
On 25th of September, 2013 the future of an entire country; the fate of many hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of innocent homeless dogs, was determined by the abuse of power of a handful of individuals.
The implementation of Romania's 'eradication program' ("eradication" was the word that they themselves had used during the debate in the parliament) has produced worldwide condemnation and a perception that Romania is a country which introduces medieval practices and governs in a draconian mode. The Romanian government has brought shame to Romania as a whole - the implementation of their 'Slaughter Law' has very negatively affected Romania's image politically and on so many other levels.
The Romanian "Slaughter Law" has polarized Romania's society and made it dangerously divisive, now having a society divided into two groups, namely aggressors of the dogs, and defenders of the dogs.
With this book, animal rights campaigners inform about the financial interests behind this corrupt law; psychologists and world-leading experts in the LINK between exposure to animal abuse and its attendant effect, explain the ramification on the psychological health of Romania's citizens and, in particular, those of the children. Experts explain the effects that it has on the whole of Europe and lawyers demonstrate that the European Commission has the legal competence - and a legal duty - to intervene, and all wonder why the European Institutions still turn a blind eye?
The EU-Commission, along with the Parliament and the Council, are aware of the continued failure of the Romanian government to find a sustainable and humane solution to the problem of surplus dogs in Romania. The utmost cruelty practiced on a daily basis in various parts of Romania in the name of “euthanasia” of dogs is in flagrant breach of European values and of a number of international obligations binding on Romania.
The inability of the EU Commission, so far, to come up with a credible solution has caused citizens of many EU countries to question the entire justification of the existing EU legal framework. In particular, it goes beyond the limits of imagination of a growing number of EU citizens that Romania, a country receiving millions of Euros of financial assistance from other EU countries every year is, at the same time, “entitled” to completely disregard a set of European values.
The question of animal rights and welfare is an integral part of the whole legal system encompassing such issues as human, constitutional and children’s rights. If we allow any aspect of the legal system to be violated, we violate the system as a whole undermining its credibility in the eyes of the public. In this way, we send a message to the public that the law itself can be breached and defied all the more because such a message is being sent by the authorities supposed to be the guardians of law and legal order.
This is the case in Romania.
Therefore, such authorities deserve to be accused of corruption, abuse of power, and unforgivable irresponsibility because they show contempt for such universal values as social stability and the consistency of legal and social order without which no society can operate properly.
Preamble
Relating to others in terms of cultivating an emotive relationship with other humans or animals is man's and animal's most basic psychological need.
In this way, a mother relates to her child, and the child to his or her mother. A pet owner relates to his pet and the pet emotively reciprocates. A gay person affectively relates to a gay partner. An animal emotively relates to an animal. A child relates to a pet and the pet, in its own way, determined by the species' psychological make-up, relates to the child.
Is it a universal truth? Yes, it is.
We need to affectively relate to other living and feeling beings for protection in exactly the same biologically determined manner as the very young child relates to its mother because the mother-the child emotive quality of this relationship affects in a fundamental way the character of our prospective emotive relations as we grow older. The affective relationship that we cherish and cultivate is the foundation on which our well-being and the sense of security rests. It helps us to relate to other more distant members of the community and finally, it enables us to function as social beings.
A human being has an inalienable and a natural right to relate emotively to other living beings, be it humans or animals and as, universally, this relationship constitutes the foundation of man's sense of security and well-being, as well as the sense of his identity and as the character of this affective relationship is the same regardless of whether this relationship exists between humans or humans and animals, and any one who perpetrates the violence-related trauma resulting from the suppression of this natural right should be held accountable as the violation of this right causes psychosomatic suffering equivalent to the violation of personal rights and freedoms.
Not long ago, child abuse was endemic because of child's alleged inferiority to adults. Not long ago, slavery was no to be challenged and it constituted one of the most infamous foundations of the world's economy. We are still enslaving humans who stand up in the defence of animal rights because we restrict their freedoms and do not protect them from violence.
In fact, the corrupt Romanian government executing the policy of animal mass extermination targets millions of sensitive people who are being socially marginalized and who are deprived of any legal or constitutional protection. The corrupt nature of such a deviant, murderous and criminal policy advocated by the state bureaucrats makes one believe that those who oppose violence are acting against the law and it is them who deserve condemnation.
In this sense, Romania is a corrupt country and those who keep silent on the question of human rights in Romania, including European Institutions, allegedly promoting democracy, are guilty of tolerating the evil, the frenzy of killings, and the erosion of human rights as well as the social crisis.
Yes, Romania is in the grip of a social crisis and the international community simply ignores it.
In this way, a mother relates to her child, and the child to his or her mother. A pet owner relates to his pet and the pet emotively reciprocates. A gay person affectively relates to a gay partner. An animal emotively relates to an animal. A child relates to a pet and the pet, in its own way, determined by the species' psychological make-up, relates to the child.
Is it a universal truth? Yes, it is.
We need to affectively relate to other living and feeling beings for protection in exactly the same biologically determined manner as the very young child relates to its mother because the mother-the child emotive quality of this relationship affects in a fundamental way the character of our prospective emotive relations as we grow older. The affective relationship that we cherish and cultivate is the foundation on which our well-being and the sense of security rests. It helps us to relate to other more distant members of the community and finally, it enables us to function as social beings.
A human being has an inalienable and a natural right to relate emotively to other living beings, be it humans or animals and as, universally, this relationship constitutes the foundation of man's sense of security and well-being, as well as the sense of his identity and as the character of this affective relationship is the same regardless of whether this relationship exists between humans or humans and animals, and any one who perpetrates the violence-related trauma resulting from the suppression of this natural right should be held accountable as the violation of this right causes psychosomatic suffering equivalent to the violation of personal rights and freedoms.
Not long ago, child abuse was endemic because of child's alleged inferiority to adults. Not long ago, slavery was no to be challenged and it constituted one of the most infamous foundations of the world's economy. We are still enslaving humans who stand up in the defence of animal rights because we restrict their freedoms and do not protect them from violence.
In fact, the corrupt Romanian government executing the policy of animal mass extermination targets millions of sensitive people who are being socially marginalized and who are deprived of any legal or constitutional protection. The corrupt nature of such a deviant, murderous and criminal policy advocated by the state bureaucrats makes one believe that those who oppose violence are acting against the law and it is them who deserve condemnation.
In this sense, Romania is a corrupt country and those who keep silent on the question of human rights in Romania, including European Institutions, allegedly promoting democracy, are guilty of tolerating the evil, the frenzy of killings, and the erosion of human rights as well as the social crisis.
Yes, Romania is in the grip of a social crisis and the international community simply ignores it.