Romanian Parliament has approved legislation allowing stray dogs to be euthanized after 14 days in a shelter.

The Chamber of Deputies approved the law which sets a two week day deadline for stray dogs in shelters to be adopted, following which they will be put down.

City Hall, however, retains the power to delay the lethal injection.

The law passed by a majority of votes, with MPs from the Democrat Liberal Party (PDL), the Social Democrat party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL)  all in favour of euthanizing stray dogs.

During the debates, the president of the Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea said none of the NGOs protecting stray dogs had filed a request to attend the vote.

The legislation was triggered by the recent death of a four-year old who was killed by stray dogs near the Tei park in Colentina neighborhood in Bucharest.

The attack happened on a derelict plot adjoining the park, which belongs to a private company and which was not protected by a fence.

The incident caused protests both pro and against euthanizing stray dogs in Bucharest.

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