Mountain resort in Romania confronted with stray cow problem

The local authorities in Vatra Dornei, a popular mountain resort in Northern Romania, have been confronted in recent years with an unexpected problem: stray cows wandering in the city’s streets.

Since 2012, stray cows have been a constant nuisance for the peaceful town of 14,000 in Suceava county. The owners of the cows, a local family, let their animals graze in the city’s park and move freely around the town. The cows left unattended have been causing problems, damaging public and private property. An animal was even hit by the train and, more recently, a man asked for help after being chased by a bull through the city’s park, according to Digi24.ro.

The local authorities say they have been doing everything in their power to solve this problem and that the restrictive legislation doesn’t allow them to take more effective action against the cow owners.

“This is a problem that comes back almost daily on the public agenda on social networks. We have received hundreds of notifications about this and the Local Police has intervened over 800 times. However, the law doesn’t allow us to immediately solve the problem, although the cows have been blocking traffic, damaging the municipality’s green spaces and one of them was hit by train on April 14,” reads a Facebook post of the Vatra Dornei City Hall.

The local authorities have issued 168 fines to the owners of the animals, totaling RON 125,000 (EUR 26,500), which they haven’t paid. Moreover, in 2017, the authorities confiscated 13 animals and leased stables where they are kept and fed, the costs amounting to almost EUR 1,000 per month. The owners should also cover these costs, but the City Hall says they simply abandoned the animals. However, the authorities say they can’t sell or slaughter the animals to recover the money without the owners’ approval, which they haven’t been able to get so far.

(Photo source: Primaria Municipiului Vatra Dornei on Facebook)