Romania will take tougher action to cut the number of stray dogs in Bucharest after a Japanese man was mauled to death, authorities said on Monday.
Bucharest city hall said it would bring 1,000 foreign medical students to sterilize stray dogs living in the streets of the capital and also invest in new shelters and veterinary facilities.
“We will submit draft legislation on dealing with stray dogs this week to the government,” Bucharest mayor Adriean Videanu told a news conference. “This unfortunate event has made the whole process more urgent.”
A 68-year-old Japanese businessman bled to death in central Bucharest on Sunday after a stray dog bit him in the leg, severing a vital artery.
The 100,000 stray dogs in the capital are considered a legacy of former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s decision to demolish hundreds of houses in the 1980s, when guard dogs were abandoned in the streets by residents who had been rehoused in small apartments.
Under the new plan, city authorities will fine residents who abandon dogs. They will also shorten the time a stray dog can spend in a shelter before it is put down to three days from 14.