Senate Sends Bill on Stray Animals Back for Revision

The Senate considered the draft law on the responsible treatment of animals in its first reading, Orda.kz reports.

Several amendments were introduced in the upper house of parliament. They were presented by Senator Arman Otegulov. As a result, the bill was returned to the Mazhilis with amendments.

The catch-sterilize-vaccinate-release model used today has not produced the expected result and has not ensured an adequate level of safety. Since the current law was adopted, more than one million stray dogs have been caught over four years. At the same time, more than 155,000 cases of dog attacks on people have been recorded. These include attacks by both stray dogs and owned dogs. These figures clearly show that the existing mechanisms need to be revised.he said.

According to him, the state has allocated 14.5 billion tenge for these purposes since 2022. However, the funds are distributed unevenly across the regions, and the effectiveness of their use raises questions.

He stressed that although some stray dogs attack people, this does not mean they should be destroyed across the board.

Euthanasia is possible only in exceptional cases: if the animal has a chronic disease, or if its quality of life has deteriorated because of constant pain, based on a veterinarian’s conclusion. The owner of the animal has the right to decide on euthanasia, and only in strict compliance with veterinary and ethical standards.the senator said.

The main proposed changes are:

• to keep the current definition of “stray animal,” since the absence of a microchip does not determine the animal’s status or end ownership rights, but only indicates that the animal is not registered;
• to reject the use of euthanasia as a tool for regulating the number of stray animals, since under current law the killing of animals is already carried out by humane methods without causing pain or suffering;
• to allow maslikhats to determine independently the procedure and timing for regulating the number of stray animals, so that each region can decide the issue based on local conditions and available funding;
• to abandon the use of the term “euthanasia.”

Senators also said Kazakhstan has the largest number of stray animals in the south, mainly in the Almaty and Turkestan regions and in Shymkent, where the catch-sterilize-vaccinate-return system has not produced the desired effect. In the Akmola, West Kazakhstan and Pavlodar regions, however, the results were described as better.

The bill has sparked heated debate in Kazakhstan, dividing society between those demanding a more humane approach to animals and those supporting the culling of stray dogs. At the same time, both animal rights activists and the authorities agree on one point: responsibility for animal owners must be tightened.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also weighed in. In developing the idea of the Taza Kazakhstan initiative, he instructed the authorities to tighten punishment for animal cruelty. He said directly that the problem of stray dogs is a consequence of human indifference, not the fault of the animals, and called not for hype but for real public oversight. The president stressed that it is unacceptable when pets become victims of human negligence.

The government should tighten administrative responsibility for the improper keeping of animals and even strengthen criminal liability for cruelty to them, primarily domestic animals.the president said.

As a result, the senators did not approve the bill, introduced amendments and sent it back to the Mazhilis for revision.

Original author: Ilya Astakhov

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