NUCA Association for Animal Protection hereby informs you that a significant majority of the town's citizens strongly opposes to the euthanasia of strays and other dogs, that might take place in the town's dogpound as a consequence of O.U.G. 155/2001, part of law 227/2002. (O.U.G. stands for law enforced by the Government without consulting with the Parliament. The present O.U.G. was nevertheless made part of the regular law.)
Our undisputable argument is that, at the moment, in Romania there is a good number of institutions successfully tending to the problem of strays; the dogs are accomodated, taken care of and posted for adoption in these institutions that function with the suppport of local townhalls; needless to say, the people working in these institutions have decided against euthanasia, legislated as such through the O.U.G mentioned above, focusing on alternative solutions.
The decision of the local townhall and of the city council in Cluj-Napoca to carry out to the letter the O.U.G mentioned above and to ignore all other alternatives that propose a different approach to the problem of strays, one that would exclude euthanasia as a solution, would be considered as contemptuous and disregarding the opinion of people that sign or agree to this petition; in Romania these citizens are of course tax payers and every 4 years, voters.

Additional arguments:

• Throughout the 227 law for 2002, the one that includes the above-mentioned O.U.G, the euthanasia of strays is reffered to as a possible solution only, not as the only solution; it is up to every city's administrative authorities to decide for the proper way to solve the problem. (art.7, pc.1 vs appendix 3)
• Most citizens are totally unfamiliar to the legislation regarding strays, including, of course, the above-mentioned O.U.G, and therefore unaware of the fact that money they pay as taxes will be used to mass murder a species profoundly attached to men, tamed by men and, in Romania, poorley managed by men. We are convinced that most of this people feel strongly against reverting to euthanasia. Moreover, we would like to inform you that we, the people that sign the petition and the people that agree to it, explicitly refuse to see our money used for killing stray dogs in Cluj-Napoca.
• According to the O.U.G. 155/2001 all dogs in the dogpound are to be euthanasied within 14 days, unless someone claims them; carrying out to the letter the above-mentioned O.U.G would inevitably lead to killing lost dogs that actually have an owner; they are not few. Dog owners could explain at any time how important the dog is in the family and what great suffering losing it, even due to natural causes, brings about.
• Romania is under the obligation to abide by the European Convention regarding pets protection, drawn March, the 23rd, 2004 and also by the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights; not to mention the local law of animal protection, number 205 for 2004; thus, a sick or injured dog brought to the dogpound is to be treated and taken care of for 14 days untill it is euthanasied. The nonsense is evident, so are the costs implied by such action.
• Natural or conventional persons, as well as associations for animal protection have in time invested large sums of money, not to mention feelings, in medical treatments, neutering and maintenance of strays ; most of these dogs have been relocated for reasons that are not the object of this petition. Killing these dogs would render void the great efforts and the dedication of some thousands of people.
• The topic of stray dogs and cats has never been in Cluj the subject of consistent, organised, scientific or objective debates ; we feel we need to reinforce the fact that we are talking about a species closer to man than all the others, a species tamed by man to serve man purposes. Before you decide to kill them you should consider your responsibility as humans, as well as your responsibility as people elected to represent a majority, to discuss the topic at a higher level than those fiery opinions expressed during a TV show or enlisted on the Cityhall's web site; we are talking about more significant and more numerous discussions that should, as a rule, include veterinary surgeons, human medicine surgeons, psychologists, spokesmen for animal protection organizations in Cluj and from different other cities and countries that have ruled out the option of euthanasing strays.
• In Romania, the supreme argument in favour of the euthanasia of dogs accomodated in dogpounds is that "in most of the other civilised countries the problem is sorted out much the same way". Let us not forget that Romania has a very short history in the animal protection field. Moreover, we should consider the fact that there are other countries where the euthanasia is not taken into account as a viable solution; so in the end it is just a matter of choice.

To conclude, NUCA Association for Animal Protection has ideas that are yet waiting to be heard ; moreover, setting aside the assistance or the explicit adhesion of some of Cluj's well-known personalities, we are mainly young people under 35 who feel strongly against leaving the country that still needs us. Killing these animals that we strive to help to the best of our current abilities will stain our passports, too.