Romanian authorities confirm four-year old boy dead from multiple dog bites, one of the stray dogs belongs to an NGO

Authorities have released further details about a horrific fatal dog attack on a four-year-old in Bucharest, confirming the boy was mauled by a pack of stray dogs, leaving him with hundreds of wounds. It’s also been revealed one of the dogs, found with blood traces after the attack on Monday (September 2), belonged to the NGO Caleidoscop, which was supposed to take care of it. The NGO's representatives had adopted several dogs from the dog shelter after they were sterilized and has signed forms pledging not to abandon them. However, according to the NGO representative, this was done merely on paper, in order to free up spaces at the shelter so that the authorities could sterilize more dogs. By law, the owner of a dog is responsible for any harm the dog may do. The dogs will most likely be euthanized, according to the authorities. The attack happened on a derelict plot adjoining the Tei Park in Colentina neighborhood of Bucharest. There was no fence between the park and the plot, which belongs to a bankrupt private company. The victim and his six-year-old brother were in the Tei park together with their grandmother, who called police 20 minutes after the two boys disappeared from her sight. The older boy returned and told the grandmother of the attack. Police found the little boy's body on the derelict plot near the park, in an area, which was not easily accessible. “The incident happened on a private property. The dogs are from around the park, and are fed by dog lovers from nearby,” said Razvan Bancescu, who coordinates the Authority for Animal Supervision and Protection. He added that the city hall could not gather all the dogs in Bucharest and euthanize them. However, dogs found on public property will be taken and sterilized, with a budget already in place for this. The procedures for hiring private companies to gather and sterilize the dogs will be finalized this week, which will speed up the process. Bucharest is home to over 64,000 stray dogs, according to latest data from the Authority for Animal Supervision and Protection. In 2012, the authority gathered around 3,500 dogs from the streets of Bucharest to sterilize them, out of which 2,000 were back on public property, 1,400 were adopted, and 46 were euthanized. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)