A woman jogging through a field near Morii Lake (Lacul Morii) in northwest Bucharest was attacked by 7-8 stray dogs and mauled to death on the morning of January 21.

Ana Oros Daraban, an eco-tourism enthusiast working for the municipality, was previously mauled by stray dogs in the same place last April – when she was saved by other people.

The tragic event on the morning of January 21 prompted mutual accusations between District 6 City Hall and the municipality.

The body charged with handling stray dogs (ASPA) is under the central municipality's coordination - but it claims that the Local Police, under the jurisdiction of the District City Hall, had hindered their operations in the area last year, Hotnews.ro reported.

In turn, District 6 mayor, Ciprian Ciucu, criticizes the policies of ASPA, saying that instead of taking the dogs out of the streets, they organize "awareness campaigns" and invest in shelters and other services while not capturing them.

"They have not been euthanized for many years, which makes the shelters crowded, and the conditions in which the animals are kept are bad. And that's why their resources are not spent on capture but on accommodation conditions and "awareness" campaigns for a lot of money. A kind of PR on public money," mayor Ciucu argued, quoted by News.ro.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Sabin Cirstoveanu)