Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, will host the Eurovision 2012 song contest in just a few months. Given that the wildly popular TV event provides the Azerbaijani government a showcase for the energy-rich South Caucasus nation, efforts to spruce up the city are already in full swing. But an initiative designed to tackle Baku’s stray dog problem is sparking complaints from animal rights activists.
Dog boutiques and animal ownership have risen in the last few years in Armenia, even as the country grapples with the issue of stray dogs. Thousands are roaming the streets of the capital of Yerevan, posing a safety threat to residents.
Facebook may be best known in Azerbaijan as a tool for mobilizing government critics, but a new generation of Azerbaijani civil society activists is relying on the social networking site for quite a different purpose -- promoting animal welfare.
In only six months, the Baku-based Helping Stray Animals group has grown from a few isolated animal activists to a group of thousands.
A group of Armenian non-governmental organizations is planning to file a lawsuit against a recently opened Yerevan dolphinarium, asserting that the center’s seven marine mammals are subject to abuse. The dolphinarium’s management, which promotes the facility as a “world of water miracles,” denies abuse accusations.
An animal rights debate is building in Armenia, centering on plans to open a dolphinarium in Yerevan. Local environmental activists and some city residents contend that the project’s owner, who remains anonymous, is prepared to sacrifice marine mammal welfare and environmental sustainability for the sake of commercial gain.
