Attack of the Dogs

According to this article from B92, 16 people have been attacked and bitten by a pack of stray dogs which hangs out at the hospital in Zajecar, a town of 39,000 in eastern Serbia, over the last two weeks. Patients and doctors have been bitten, with one victim saying that the dogs were calm at first but suddenly riled up and aggressively attacked him. Another victim, a patient, was so badly bitten that he went into shock. The situations seems so serious that during the afternoon and night hospital workers do not walk alone between departments and sometimes even take cars to other areas of the hospital.

Stray dogs are a serious issue in many towns and cities across Serbia. It’s very unlikely that you would not see at least one stray dog whilst walking around, for example, Belgrade, in fact, you would probably see a group of two, three or more wandering the streets in the centre or in the suburbs. Many dogs were abandoned during the economic crisis of the 1990s when individuals and families could no longer afford to look after them. They bred on the streets and now Belgrade and other towns have whole generations of street dogs (as well as cats) which can pose a serious risk as seen in Zajecar. Although, many of them do seem quite friendly and are cared for by the residents of the blocks of flats that they call their patch. When I stayed at a student hall of residence while studying in Belgrade a few years ago, we had three dogs who lived in the grounds who were pretty friendly – we even had names for them all.

I never used to be that scared of dogs, well, I was always slightly wary of meeting friends’ and acquaintances’ dogs for the first time ever since I was a child. Living in Belgrade has certainly made me a whole lot more anxious about dogs, that’s for sure. I’ve never been bitten or been threatened by a dog in Belgrade, but I have heard stories from many friends who’ve had some scary run-ins with packs of dogs in New Belgrade, Vracar and even in the very centre. One friend was bitten whilst running to catch a tram, another was surrounded by his local residential block dogs at night – previously they had been very friendly toward him – and another friend was walking home at night before being attacked by several dogs.

Unfortunately, there’s just not enough funds or the will at the moment in Serbia to round up the strays, take them to dog kennels, look after them and eventually re-home them with loving families. In fact, the resident of Zajecar are asking why should a pound be built for these stray dogs when people do not have enough money to feed themselves and their families adequately – around £140,000 (160,000 euros) is needed to build a dog pound in Zajecar. However, there is one remarkable lady in Belgrade who is trying to make a difference.

Even though the situation is quite bad, thankfully, as far as I know, Serbia hasn’t had a case similar to this one in Bulgaria in which a British expat was attacked and bitten to death by a pack of stray dogs.

What’s your experience of street dogs in Belgrade, Serbia, or elsewhere in the Balkans? How can the the problem be solved? Click here to leave your comment.

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