Over 6,700 stray dogs taken from the streets of Bucharest in five months

A total of 6,756 stray dogs were taken from the streets of Bucharest between September 2013 and January 2014, out of which over 4,900 were adopted, according to Razvan Bancescu, program coordinator at the Authority for Animal Surveillance and Protection ASPA. From the total of over 6,700, about 1,500 were captured in January only, and 933 of them were already adopted, reports local Mediafax. Between September 2012 and January 2013, around 1,000 dogs were captured in Bucharest, an average of 200 dogs per month, added Bancescu. About 250 people bitten by stray dogs presented at the Matei Bals Institute in Bucharest in January, compared to almost 810 persons in the same month of 2013. According to reports quoted by Razvan Bancescu, there were 780 persons bitten by stray dogs in September 2012, almost 770 in October, 743 people in November, around 700 in December and over 800 in January 2013. In comparison, 475 individuals were bitten by stray dogs in September 2013, 348 in October, over 290 persons in November, some 250 in December, and 252 in January 2014. More about Romania's stray dog issue here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)