On the evening of November 8, another protest was held outside the Government Administration building in Tbilisi against the alleged mass extermination of stray dogs. Animal welfare activists and concerned citizens demanded that staff members of the animal monitoring agencies in Tbilisi and Gori, as well as the leadership of the National Food Agency, be held accountable. Organizers urged supporters to maintain momentum and ramp up public pressure.
The protests escalated after footage from burial sites circulated in the media and on social networks, showing the bodies of killed dogs being covertly dumped into burial pits under cover of darkness.
“We categorically demand an immediate end to animal fascism, which has already transitioned into ordinary fascism through the rhetoric of Kaladze. If we tolerate this, then alongside the mass extermination of dogs, they will move on to human beings, as Kaladze has already hinted,” said demonstrator Lasha Chkhartishvili.
TV Pirveli previously broadcast footage showing what is presumed to be a Tbilisi animal monitoring crew dumping dog carcasses into trenches near the Veli Cemetery on the outskirts of the capital at night.
Activists have uncovered several similar burial sites across the city containing hundreds of dogs. Most of the animals had had their collars removed. While there were no visible signs of illness, activists noted that the vast majority of the dogs had died with expressions of severe agony and distress frozen on their faces.
The agency maintains that these animals died of natural causes or as a result of traffic accidents. However, only dogs have been uncovered in the burial trenches, with no cats found. The agency has yet to provide any documentation regarding these animals, including veterinary reports establishing causes of death.
For several months, volunteers have been reporting the disappearance of community dogs under their care. In recent days, for example, dogs disappeared from Kikvidze Park. Multiple residents have recognized dogs they had been feeding—which had vanished without a trace—in photographs taken at the burial pits.
Internal correspondence among staff at the Tbilisi Animal Monitoring Agency has also surfaced, which activists argue demonstrates that the agency’s primary objective is to purge dogs from the city’s streets.
According to a source cited by TV Pirveli, the Animal Monitoring Agency uses a lethal substance—allegedly magnesium sulfate (“Epsom salt”)—without administering prior sedation, subjecting the animals to a painful and agonizing death.
Following the public circulation of the footage, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an investigation under the criminal statute governing torture, ill-treatment, or other violence against animals.
