«The Cat Town in the Kyiv Zoo must be created!»

Ukrainian

«The Cat Town in the Kyiv Zoo must be created

Press announce of a protest event 

What: protest action demanding to provide legal status to the free cats of the Kyiv Zoo «Klichko, protect the Zoo Cats!»

Where: near Kyiv City State Administration (36 Khreschatyk Street).

When: Thursday, February 23 at 11.00 a.m.

Background.

More than 70 cats are freely living on the territory of the Kyiv Zoo. We, the activists, stopped the practice of their slaying which was in place till 2010. In 2011 we, upon arrangement with the Zoo administration, have taken guardianship over them.  By the efforts of the activists of the CSO Independent Journalists Union “Nature First” most of the cats have been neutered. We created a temporary shelter for cats with little cold-proof homes for the Zoo Cats.

For years our organization had been struggling for the creation of the Cat Town exhibition territory which must be enclosed to prevent the cats from hunting birds and contacting with the Zoo animals, prevent epizootic incidents etc. The Cat Town project was submitted for consideration to the Department of Urban Development of Kyiv in October 2016. We were promised that the cats’ rights will be taken into account and a respective territory will be allocated.

However, in 2017 the City Council started the so-called “reconstruction” of the zoo without any warning. It is planned to demolish the premises where the cats reside already in April. The new place to accommodate the cats is not designated yet. The cats will be stressed by exposure to the construction noise and scatter, which will waste many years of our volunteer work; veterinary control over them will become impossible.

Moreover, the construction project is not approved with the public, preparatory works are not transparent. The Zoo directorate provides no information to the activists, referring them to the City Council.

The Public in Kyiv is indignant at this situation.

V.V. Klichko visited the Zoo in autumn and verbally promised to the volunteers that the land plot for the Zoo Cats will be allocated.  Mr. Klichko, it’s time to keep your word!

We demand:

  • to recognize the free cats a component of the city ecosystem (following the practices of civilized countries, in particular, the neighboring Poland);
  • include the Zoo Cats in the Zoo’s accounting books;
  • create an entertainment and education center “Cat Town” and the Cat Museum, a pioneering facility in Ukraine, which will become a major tourist attraction of the capital;
  • allocate a land plot for creating the Cat Town exclusively on the territory of the Kyiv Zoo.

Our demands are detailed in the petition.

Legal and scientific feasibility study of the Cat Town.

The event is not related to any political party. We strongly recommend that the participants refrain from using any party symbols.

Organizers: CSO «Association of Free Journalists „Nature First“», Kyiv animal protection activists.

FB page.

Contacts: +38(067)583-70-89, Anzhelika Komarova; +38(097)502-75-51, Oleg Andros.

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