The killing of dogs has divided Klishas and Volodin

      Yesterday, on March 13, the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation did not support the concept of a draft law on the killing of stray animals, which was prepared on behalf of State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. So, on February 25, Volodin reacted to the statistics of stray dog attacks, stating: "Are we going to protect people and children? Think about it: they put a child and an animal on the same level!". The very next day, he instructed to prepare amendments to protect citizens from attacks by stray dogs. On February 28, they were submitted to the Duma by a group of 25 deputies.

      The latter proposed amendments that would give the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation the right to set a deadline for dogs and cats without owners in shelters, after which they can be killed. In addition, it was proposed to exclude from the law "On Responsible Treatment of animals" the provision on the return of pets that do not show unwarranted aggressiveness to their former habitats. This is reported by the newspaper Kommersant.

      Soon, the initiative was responded to by the head of the Constitutional Committee of the Federation Council, Andrei Klishas. In early March, he posted excerpts from last year's ruling of the Constitutional Court on his TG channel. Klishas concluded that it was unacceptable to introduce legislation on the killing of animals in shelters. The next day, on March 6, at a meeting of the State Duma leadership with state secretaries, Nina Ostanina, chairman of the Family Protection Committee, asked Andrei Yatsin, First Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, to explain on whose behalf Klishas stated that the Federation Council was not going to support the bill. Vyacheslav Volodin, in turn, made it clear that there may be a conflict of interest in the senator's actions. As if he belongs to the "dog association". Klishas denied involvement in such an organization.

      On March 13, the Federation Council Committee on State Construction decided to discuss this bill. Klishas said that the authorities should look for ways to solve the problem of stray dogs, but not by a method that, according to him, contradicts the decision of the Constitutional Court. According to Klishas, if the bill is passed, he does not understand what could happen next. "In any region that tries to implement it, there will be an appeal to the local court, and the court will simply have to block all this on the basis of the already existing Constitutional Court decision," he said.

      The first Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council, Vladimir Yakushev, tried to soften the committee's position. He added that the problem requires an urgent solution. In addition, he asked what to say to parents who have lost children, whose animals "mutilated a perfectly healthy child." Nina Ostanina told Kommersant that Klishas' conclusion that "according to the Constitution, dogs are the main thing, not people" is not a reason for making changes to the concept of the bill. In addition, she recalled that the deputies' proposal is for the regions themselves to set the time limit for keeping stray animals in shelters. In addition, according to her, in most cases the initiative is supported by the authorities of the regions.