The number of stray dogs has increased throughout the Făgăraș area, whether in communes or in Făgăraș. On every street corner you see a disoriented and hungry dog, maybe even violent. There are individuals who abandon dogs, from cars, on the outskirts of villages, actions captured by video systems installed in Făgăraș villages. City halls have the obligation, according to the law, to manage the situations created by community dogs, to house them in equipped spaces and to organize sterilization and vaccination actions with specialized companies. However, in the Făgăraș area there is no shelter for community dogs that local city halls can turn to in order to solve the problem of stray dogs. There was, a few years ago, an initiative by the „Țara Făgărașului” Association, in which all the Făgăraș town halls are members, to establish a shelter for community dogs, but it did not materialize. In Făgăraș there was also a proposal to build a shelter for stray dogs, but the municipal leadership refused to get involved. Moreover, the existing shelter, owned by the Făgăraș Town Hall, was rented to a company. This is how the problem of stray dogs became a business for an „investor”.
DMPA, a business on public money
Thus, the management of stray dogs was taken over by the Codlea Animal Monitoring and Protection Directorate (DMPA) for most of the town halls in Brașov County, including Făgăraș. These services are paid for from local budgets with not small amounts, and the results of the concluded contracts are far below expectations. Registration in DMPA cost each town hall 200,000 lei, and a minimum fee/contribution of 100,000 lei is charged annually. This year, the DMPA management set the fee level at 135,000 lei/member. To these fees is added the cost of capturing and housing the dogs, which amounts to 850 lei/month, as the mayors declare. It is an action of „siphoning” public money on the so-called projects of management/sterilization/capture of community dogs, explains Lucian Rad, an animal protection activist. The way in which the dogs are treated, but also the very high financial demands of DMPA, have led the mayors of the Făgăraș area to refuse to collaborate with this shelter in Codlea.
- ” Joining the association for 200,000 lei was an enormous fee, money that we were losing. There were other fees, 850 lei per month for captured dogs, the annual fee, but the dogs returned to the streets after a month, since that was how long they were housed in the shelter. We preferred to organize sterilization campaigns with a veterinary office together with the neighboring town halls of Părău. We also requested support from the Animal Police and the DVSA Brașov to monitor stray dogs within the commune and those from the sheepfolds, but they did not get involved as was normal. They came to the commune once and did not continue to supervise this situation of community dogs,” explained Ovidiu Ovesea, the mayor of Părău commune.
19 mayors contribute to DMPA
Currently, 19 mayors in Braşov County pay over two million lei from their local budget annually to this private dog shelter in the city of Codlea. According to the TressOne investigation, while public money is being spent, thousands of animals that end up at the shelter are either euthanized or starve to death. According to data obtained by PressOne, in the last five years, the Directorate for Monitoring and Protection of Animals (DMPA) Braşov has captured 8,916 dogs in its 19 member localities. Of these, approximately 5,011 were euthanized due to lack of space in the shelter, and only 3,905 were given up for adoption. PressOne notes that “DMPA is a private entity financed almost exclusively from public money.” City halls pay a membership fee (in some cases 200,000 lei), an annual fee and, according to some sources, around 1,000 lei for each dog captured for DMPA services. However, data on financial allocations lack transparency.
Conflict of interest and previous sanctions
The shelter collaborates with a veterinary clinic whose owner is also the president of DMPA. The veterinarian in question is Filip Alin Ilie, who was disciplined in 2014 by the Romanian College of Veterinarians for the high animal mortality rate and the use of dangerous substances. Lawyer Dana Dunel, quoted by PressOne, states that „as long as Filip Ilie Alin is president of DMPA and also the owner of the clinic that bills DMPA, we can talk about a conflict of interest.”
Critical conditions in the Codlea shelter
Official data shows that in the last five years, 9,395 dogs have arrived at the Codlea shelter. Of these, 5,086 were euthanized, and another 319 died due to improper conditions. PressOne shows that “sources from within the DMPA network claim that hundreds of dogs are starving or end up being eaten alive by other dogs, due to lack of food”. A former animal rights activist stated: “… according to the information obtained, a shelter spends 150 lei for the sterilization of a dog, and 300 lei for food and procedures for 14 days. The difference of up to 1,000 lei paid by the city halls – where does it go ?”
Too few controls
The law states that every adopted dog must be microchipped, tested for brucellosis, vaccinated against rabies and sterilized. At the Codlea shelter, sterilization is only done upon adoption, not in all cases. DMPA member municipalities say they do not have clear records of dogs adopted from their localities. PressOne reports that DSVSA Braşov carried out only four control actions during 2021–2025 at the Codlea shelter, although reports indicate serious conditions. (Lucia BAKI)
