Some 5,000 stray dogs on Romania’s riviera

There are about 5,000 stray dogs in the streets of the Romanian seaside resorts this season, according to the latest estimates of the Romanian hotel operators, local Adevarul reported.

Hotel owners claim that specialised private firms ask them to pay EUR 100 for each dog they take away. They asked the Ministry of Finance to allow a tax strike unless the dogs are taken away from the seaside.

They even gave a deadline. “If there is a single stray dog ​in the resort Monday morning and if the municipalities cease to intervene urgently to take them out of the places where tourists relax, we, the hotel and restaurant operators, are ready to stop paying taxes. Gone are the times when we were silent and the authorities were doing what they wanted,” said Mohammad Murad, the president of the Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers (FPTR), in a press release.

He said that seaside hotels pay annually to the state, tens of thousands or even more, and do not receive anything in return, not even the minimal conditions of safety and cleanliness.

“A single unfortunate accident caused by such a dog can spoil the image of the entire seaside where every year tens of millions of euros are invested in new accommodation units and in the renovation of the old ones."

(Photo source: Pixabay.com)