On 13 August, the following video and comment appeared on the website of the Jelenia Góra association Dolnośląski Inspektorat Ochrony Zwierząt:
Misiek, taken away from a female official, suffered before the eyes of his pseudo-owners. Despite unimaginable abdominal pain, lack of appetite and extreme emaciation, the owners failed to take the dog to a veterinarian. During the intervention, they claimed that the animal had deteriorated within just one week; according to specialists, however, the neglect had lasted for many months.
Detailed examinations of Misiek showed that he had jaundice, liver cancer, significant prostate enlargement, cystitis, a fungal skin infection, a shrunken spleen, kidney failure and internal bleeding. An abdominal ultrasound caused the dog enormous suffering, manifested by unimaginable howling. Specialists decided to euthanize the animal because keeping him alive would cause him nothing but needless suffering. The need to put the dog to sleep resulted solely from the complete lack of treatment. It was not the result of a week of neglect, but of several years.
Despite the tremendous efforts we made, the Secretary of the Osiecznica Municipality accused us of unlawful actions. Instead of condemning the actions of those responsible for abusing the dog, the woman will notify the prosecutor’s office against US. In her view, the dog should still be dying at the home of his pseudo-owners. Perhaps because Misiek’s “caretaker” was a female official?
We are notifying the prosecutor’s office about the matter—for keeping the dog in a state of untreated illness and extreme neglect, up to 3 years’ imprisonment is threatened. The dog’s body will be sent for an autopsy to establish precisely the extent of the suffering to which he was condemned. The funds collected so far covered the costs of detailed diagnostics and the autopsy performed by the Department of Forensic Veterinary Medicine.
Euthanizing an animal is the breaking of a life—not only its life, but ours as well. Unfortunately, the deaths of animals in our care are not unfamiliar to us—we take in animals in critical condition and, despite the tremendous effort we put into treating them, we suffer defeats. Nevertheless, we try to repair this world, at least a little.
STATEMENT OF THE OSIECZNICA MUNICIPAL OFFICE
With reference to the post of 11 August 2020 concerning the removal of a dog from its owner in Osiecznica—I, as Secretary of the Osiecznica Municipality, declare that the matter described does not concern any official of the Osiecznica Municipal Office or any employee of another organizational unit of the Osiecznica Municipality.
The association named Dolnośląski Inspektora Ochrony Zwierząt from Jelenia Góra used the phrase “an official from Osiecznica” in its post, which caused forum users first and foremost to think of the Osiecznica Municipal Office and, without grounds and hastily, to insult office employees in the comments. As office employees, we strongly oppose such actions and the spreading of hate.
Additionally, you are hereby informed that the rules for temporarily taking an animal away from its owner are set out in the Act of 21 August 1997 on animal protection [...]. Pursuant to Article 7 of the aforementioned Act, an animal [...] may be temporarily taken away from its owner on the basis of a decision by the Commune Head competent for the place where the animal is located and transferred to a shelter in the case of a domestic animal. The decision to temporarily take an animal away is made ex officio after information has been obtained from the Police, municipal guards, a veterinarian or an authorized representative of a social organization whose statutory objective is animal protection.
Pursuant to Article 7(3) of the cited Act, in urgent cases where the animal’s continued stay with its current owner or caretaker threatens its health or life, a police officer, municipal guard or authorized representative of a social organization whose statutory objective is animal protection takes the animal away, immediately notifying the Commune Head so that a decision can be made concerning the removal of the animal.
With regard to the case described in the post, I inform you that, as of today (14 August 2020), the Commune Head of Osiecznica has received no notification from the association—Dolnośląski Inspektorat Ochrony Zwierząt—concerning the removal of the dog from property in Osiecznica, although such notification is required by law.
The Osiecznica Municipal Office has now asked the Dolnośląski Inspektorat Ochrony Zwierząt association from Jelenia Góra in writing to provide the legal basis for the intervention carried out on 11 August 2020, during which the dog was removed from property in Osiecznica, and to state where the dog was transferred after the intervention.
In this specific case, a decision on the temporary removal of the dog will be made after all the evidence in the matter has been collected and assessed. At this stage, it has not been determined whether the intervention carried out by the association was justified, since the office does not have all the evidence. During a telephone conversation on 13 August 2020, the association’s president refused to send the relevant notification to the Municipal Secretary, which is inconsistent with the Animal Protection Act.
As Secretary of the Osiecznica Municipality, I assure you that I do not support animal abuse and do not protect any “officials” in this regard. However, I am committed to ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Animal Protection Act.
The prosecutor’s office will investigate the matter. What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.