More than 40 organisations and thousands of animal welfare activists in Georgia have issued a joint statement criticising a programme to manage the population of stray and community animals launched by the National Food Agency.
According to the statement, the agency’s pilot programme envisaged the sterilisation and vaccination of 9,000 animals in selected municipalities, but serious shortcomings were identified in its implementation.
According to the activists, the agency failed to return a significant number of animals, and did not provide caretakers — people who look after animals living on the streets — with information about their whereabouts.
“The agency also removed large numbers of animals that had already been sterilised and tagged. As a result, public funds were wasted, while animals were unnecessarily placed in shelters and transported in conditions where viruses — particularly distemper and rabies — can easily spread.
Transportation over long distances and being kept with many unfamiliar animals causes additional stress, which contradicts a humane approach to managing animal overpopulation,” the statement said.
Activists say their concerns are further heightened by an expanded programme planned for 2026, which envisages the sterilisation of more than 36,000 stray and community dogs under the same logistical model.
They have also criticised a new regulation that bans the return of dogs to areas surrounding certain types of facilities, including educational, medical, sports and food establishments. Animal welfare advocates say the provision is vague and largely unenforceable.
According to them, such restrictions do not solve the problem, as once a dog is removed from a specific area, another stray animal takes its place. They also fear the measure could be used to justify the disappearance of stray animals.
Activists stress that mass sterilisation of stray companion animals is essential for a humane solution to overpopulation, but say the current implementation of the programme fails to meet that goal.
Their statement sets out a number of demands they say are necessary to ensure the programme is both effective and humane:
- Return to original habitat: Animals taken to shelters must be returned to their original territory, with photo or video evidence made publicly available. Relocation to a new area leaves animals disoriented and without reliable food sources, often forcing them into competition with other dogs. “If we do not return an animal to its original habitat, we are effectively condemning it to death, and the sterilisation programme loses its purpose,” the statement says.
- Legal guarantees: The obligation to return animals to their original habitat should be закреплено in law and regulations, and — crucially — enforced in practice. Activists also call for the removal of vague provisions restricting where animals can be returned.
- Minimising capture: The agency should not transfer animals to shelters unless necessary. If an animal has already been sterilised, vaccination and registration should be carried out on site, with the agency cooperating with local and mobile clinics wherever possible.
- Transparency: The National Food Agency should provide caretakers and any concerned citizens with official, documented information on the whereabouts or release location of any missing animal.
So far, 41 organisations and initiative groups have joined the statement, which has been signed by around 25,000 citizens — a number the authors say continues to grow.
Statement by animal welfare activists in Georgia
