PtG Article 06.12.2011

Mega-event politics: Ukraine stops killing of stray dogs before EURO 2012

Stray dogs in the streets of Ukraine's major cities have caused unexpected problems for UEFA in the run up to the 2012 European Championship. Local authorities have been killing the dogs in an effort to clean the streets before June, but the methods used have led to a public outcry and pressure on UEFA sponsors like Coca-Cola who in turn has demanded that UEFA takes action on the issue.

Stray dogs have been a problem in many cities in Ukraine for years, and the NGO Animal Foundation Platform estimates that there are up to 30,000 stray dogs in the capital of Kyiv alone. However, managing the population of  dogs has also become big business for those in charge of stray animal control in the various cities - especially when big events come to town.

"As soon as these announcements are made, those in charge of municipality stray animal control immediately demand increased budgets from their municipality, charging that because of the influx of foreign visitors, action must be taken to destroy stray animals. Such increased killing needs greater funds", the British NGO, Naturewatch, writes on its website. 

Abuse of funds to manage dogs

Naturewatch has been working closely with the Kyiv Society for the Protection of Animals "SOS" for 15 years and also consulted widely with Ukrainian authorities on how to manage stray animals. 

Without much success, the organsation admits in a recent report about the protection of animals in Ukraine, and suggests that the reason can be found in corruption.

"Despite Naturewatch’s support and training programmes and the overgenerous city budgets provided for Kyiv Zoo and stray animal management, evidence suggests that animals that fall under the responsibility of the Kyiv Municipality continue to be mistreated, neglected and unnecessarily killed."

According to Naturewatch, the authorities in Kyiv pay a private company a large sum of money to sterilise stray dogs. But evidence presented in the report suggests that instead dogs are being poisoined with zinc phosphate which leads to a painful death. Other media have been reporting that in the city of Lysychansk stray animals have been burned in a mobile incenerator - sometimes while they are still alive.

UEFA: We did not ask for this

These methods have led to a public outcry and pressure on both UEFA and its sponsors, even though UEFA has not requested that host cities get rid of stray dogs before the championships, as UEFA's Director of Communications, Alexandre Fourtoy, is at great pains to point out in a recent letter to a campaigner published on the website of the NGO, Animal Foundation Platform. 

"However, we are concerned about this issue and have taken it very seriously. We have used the extent of our influence to address this issue with the Ukranian authorities and have repeatedly asked those responsible to develop appropriate initiatives which respect the dignity of animals," writes Fourtoy in the letter.

UEFA's desire to take this issue seriously may also stem from pressure by its sponsors. One of the major EURO 2012 sponsors, Coca-Cola, sent out a press statement a couple of weeks ago that stressed that Coca-Cola understands the outrage in Ukraine and the company is strictly against all forms for animal cruelty.

"We are in dialogue with the UEFA, the organizer of the European Football Championship 2012, and we are sensitive to the concerns people have about the actions that have been taken in Ukraine to control the number of stray dogs," the statement reads.

The pressure has been successful in the sense that Ukraine's environment minister, Mykola Zlochevsky, has announced an immediate ban on killing of dogs in the host cities. The Ukrainian authorities have also promised they will build animal shelters to house the animals, and that dogs that cannot be housed in shelters will be sterilised and released.

At the moment is it not clear whether the ban on killing dogs will remain in force after the championship.

Related articles

EURO 2024 sponsors
PtG Analysis 24.06.2024
EURO 2024 sponsors linked to forced labour and pornographic content for minors
Karim Zidan at Play the Game 2024
PtG Comment 27.02.2024
From Qatar to Saudi: Soul-searching in sports reporting
Lars Haue-Pedersen
PtG Article 05.02.2024
Session on Qatar 2022 raised tense debate about bias and bigotry in media reporting
Claudia Villa
PtG Article 31.01.2024
Meet the speakers: "Ideally, safeguarding should be integrated into all phases of mega sporting events"
Putin at the football World Cup finale in 2018
PtG Article 30.10.2023
Pride and propaganda: Russia’s reimagined sports world
Olympic rings
PtG Article 02.02.2023
A thought experiment: Estimating global sports’ total carbon emissions
PtG Article 12.01.2023
The expansion of Saudi investments in sport: From football to esport
PtG Article 27.10.2022
The Saudis in sport: Ambitions much larger than sportswashing
James M Dorsey at Play the Game 2022
PtG Article 27.07.2022
From sportswashing in autocracies to soft power in democracies 
Panel
PtG Article 04.07.2022
Call for nuances in media reporting of the World Cup in Qatar
Beijing 2022 opening ceremony
PtG Analysis 08.02.2022
A modest but confident China on display at the 2022 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony
PtG Analysis 19.01.2022
The political power of the Olympic opening ceremony: Lessons from Beijing and Sochi
PtG Analysis 10.05.2021
Boycott Qatar: What are the chances?
Construction workers
PtG Analysis 23.02.2021
The unpredictable financial costs of hosting the Olympic Games
PtG Analysis 13.01.2021
Egypt’s search for a fig leaf: It’s not the Handball World Championship
Russia at the Olympics opening ceremony
PtG Opinion 18.12.2020
CAS on Russia: WADA won the battle, but lost the power to push victory through
Protesters in Brazil
PtG Comment 31.12.2019
A decade that opened windows of democracy in sport
Putin holding the 2018 world cup trophy
PtG Article 29.11.2019
More – not less – democracy is often better for organising a World Cup
PtG Article 15.10.2019
Mega-events and human rights: Where do we draw the line?
Formula 1 track
PtG Article 13.09.2019
Formula 1 does not seem to have a positive impact on host regions
Flag at opening ceremony
PtG Article 21.03.2019
Anti-Semitism in sport: Discrimination and death threats
Brazilian soccer players
PtG Comment 05.12.2018
The historical roots of the Brazilian 'demonstrations cup'
PtG Comment 07.11.2018
Opposition to the Olympics in American cities
PtG Comment 24.10.2018
Hamburg’s bid for the 2024 Games: Political misconceptions of citizens’ concerns
Putin
PtG Comment 23.10.2018
Putin’s use of sporting events as a domestic policy tool
PtG Comment 08.10.2018
A cautious game: Protesting mega-events in Russia
PtG Article 28.11.2017
Human rights, soft power and the legacy of mega-events
Money
PtG Article 12.11.2000
Sport and Economic Development