Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has commented on the scandal surrounding an alleged dog burial site on the outskirts of the capital. In particular, he stated that the Animal Monitoring Agency, which operates under the municipal authorities, “works transparently.” At the same time, the mayor insulted several animal rights activists who had attempted to check on the condition of dogs at the municipal shelter.
“Every perpetrator who came and started digging up the burial sites will certainly have to answer to the law. I assure you of that. Whatever slander and filth you spread, however hard you try, you will certainly not succeed in harming the animal shelter, because this organization operates honestly, transparently, and serves the welfare of animals,” Kaladze declared.
The mayor referred to the animal rights advocates as “mentally unsound people”:
“How can those few people who were there be allowed anywhere, let alone into the Animal Monitoring Agency? I am not speaking about everyone, but five or six of them should be taken away and put down today—that is the state they are in. There is the law, there are rules, and everyone should deign to abide by them,” the Mayor of Tbilisi added.
As a reminder, TV Pirveli previously broadcast footage showing, according to the report, the remains of dogs being buried at night on the grounds of the Veli cemetery near Tbilisi. Following the release of the journalistic investigation, animal rights activists launched a petition urging the Prosecutor’s Office to look into the incident. Consequently, an investigation was opened under the criminal code provision on torture, cruel treatment, or other violence against animals.
