I smell the entrance of roasted meat and fried potatoes, the neighbor's hawk kills my pigeons, come and remove the sting from the tree in the City Park because we are afraid and we can not relax, the homeless dogs bark loudly, do not disturb us, we can not to sleep…

These are just a few of the many complaints that reach the Food and Veterinary Agency almost daily.

One of the more bizarre is the case of a pensioner in Skopje, who bought an embroidery machine from a foreign company online. She paid for it with a $ 50 card, but instead received an envelope with two canvas masks in a mailbox.

FVA also receives questions such as - whether and how healthy is Tonus bread, how it affects the intestinal flora, whether barley causes allergies, the bread I bought is "alive", it is not baked…

According to the director of the FVA, Nikolce Babovski, such questions, complaints and grievances are due, above all, to the insufficient information of the citizens about the competencies of the institutions in the country.

- When I say institutions, I mean the local self-government and the agencies and the directorates and the ministries, but, of course, also the Government. It is really more than bizarre for a party to complain to us about an embroidery machine and to file a complaint. But there are also complaints related to farms, animals or livestock facilities that are also not within our competence. "People should know that a communal problem is, for example, whether an animal housing facility will be built somewhere or not, whether it will be illegal construction or there will be an appropriate construction solution," Babovski told MIA. or the question is not thrown in the bin, but is further processed, to the appropriate competent institution and the submitting citizens are notified.

Regarding the animals in the public area, Babovski notes, the communal inspection has competence.

- The communal inspection should call a veterinary inspector, if the animal is caught. Our service ascertains his health condition and if it is sent somewhere, in a shelter or other place for accommodation, he should issue an orderly health certificate. So, we are not the ones running after the animals to catch them. The problem here is probably the lack of information among the citizens, says the director of the FVA.

He is decisive that the FVA website very vividly explains how citizens should act in a situation if someone is, for example, bitten by a dog. It is also clearly stated who they can contact.

- Among them are us, ie the appropriate veterinary society in the region where the bite occurred. The most important thing in this case is whether the animal is vaccinated against rabies or not, that is the most important thing for the citizens, in addition to the physical and psychological trauma they will experience. "Literally the whole procedure is explained on our website," Babovski said.

Regarding the responsible ownership of pets, unfortunately, says Babovski, we are still not at the desired level.

- I would not like to be misunderstood, but with the associations and in general with the non-governmental sector that cares about the health and well-being of dogs and other animals, we should be partners. Instead of submitting unsubstantiated complaints to us, to react to certain housing or unfulfilled conditions in some shelters. Let them jointly raise the awareness of the citizens, Babovski emphasizes and adds that sometimes there are orchestrated attacks on some legal entities.

This year, a total of 331 complaints have been submitted. Of these, 181 are in the field of health care and animal welfare, of which 84 are directly related to dog bites and irresponsible ownership. The other complaints are from veterinary public health and food safety.

Last year, again. The FVA recorded 416 complaints. Most of the complaints handled are in the field of veterinary medicine, 158 complaints refer to the health care and welfare of animals, and 131 to food of non-animal origin. The lowest number of complaints, 38, relating to food of animal origin.

Source: MIA