In recent days, there has been a current story in Tešnje regarding the events in the dog shelter. After a few activists approached the asylum, it was determined that 4 dogs had died, and they claim that inhumane conditions prevail there. On the other hand, the Association that manages the asylum rejects those allegations. The case of the death of dogs that were taken care of in the shelter was also addressed by the competent institutions.
In front of the Tešanj Municipality building, only a few activists. They warn of inhumane conditions in the Tešanj asylum for dogs. They say the situation is alarming.
“On August 17, we went to look for our dog and that’s when we found the horror, the dogs are hungry, thirsty, the conditions around them are really unhygienic, there is a ton of excrement around them, we also found that one dog was eating another,” says Fatima Lugonjić, activist from Tešnj.
The activists’ announcements about the conditions they say they found in the asylum caused reactions. The youth association Forte Tešanj, which runs an asylum for abandoned dogs, claims that the association, as well as the asylum, is being hunted. They state that the shelter is still under construction and that even in difficult conditions they manage to adequately care for over 100 dogs.
“It’s absolutely untrue – that dogs are hungry or thirsty or anything like that. We can prove it. As for the incident that happened, those activists forcibly entered the asylum on two occasions. Also in the last month we have noticed strange things happening in our asylum. Our surveillance cameras were knocked down, the key to the gate disappeared, our guard dog disappeared”, claims Sumija Jahić, a member of the Forte Tešanj Association.
Tešanj activists, however, are of the opposite opinion.
“Now everyone shifts the responsibility to each other and it’s not this one, it’s not that one, and everyone is running away from that situation because no one wants to answer, it’s not this one, it’s not that one, they try to take the blame on anyone, they blame it on us, I jumped that fence , I don’t run away from it and what I found was a real horror”, says Fehim Lugonjić, an activist from Tešnj.
The Municipality of Tešanj says that they are the owners of the asylum, but that the management of the asylum is contracted on an annual basis through a public call. The job of catching abandoned and lost dogs, providing appropriate accommodation, food, veterinary care is the duty of the aforementioned association. After learning about the events, they claim that they reacted in a timely manner and that they will continue to monitor the case.
“After the collected data by the inspections, the criminal police, the Municipality of Tešanj will take all actions in accordance with their findings. It is important to note that so far there have been no similar incidents in the asylum, and the Municipality of Tešanj condemns all forms of violence, i.e. neglect of animals and dogs in the asylum”, says Amel Karahmet, assistant chief for finance, economy and communal affairs in the Municipality of Tešanj.
The competent cantonal inspection also reacted to the report about the events in the Tešanj asylum. They say that there were no controversial activities in the asylum before, and that certain irregularities related to the care of abandoned dogs were determined only after the report.
“When it comes to the events of August 17, 2023. when the incident occurred in which the dogs died, it was determined that there was an omission in terms of determining the real reason for the death of the dogs before the carcasses of the dogs were removed, because a clinical examination or autopsy was not performed beforehand,” explained Adnan Leto, chief cantonal veterinary inspector in ZDK.
And while on the one hand the activists accuse the authorities of inaction and neglect of abandoned dogs, and on the other hand the Forte association claims that the dogs could have been deliberately poisoned without naming the culprit, at this moment it is expected that the competent institutions will put an end to this case after the end of the investigation. actions.
