Moscow Pet Lovers Hold Rally to Protest Killing of Strays

MOSCOW â€”  About 70 animal lovers rallied in Moscow on Sunday to demand an end to the extermination of strays and better public veterinary services.

The placard-carrying protesters gathered outside the Dynamo subway station in the northwest section of the Soviet capital and marched several blocks to an animal control center on Yunator Street where they said thousands of helpless animals are killed each year.

A handful of uniformed police officers watched over the animal rights demonstration but made no attempt to interfere with the proceedings. When the protesters headed for the control center, the officers did not follow.

Posters carried by rally participants decried the killings in the center’s gas chamber. The protesters said that municipal officials make little effort to find pet owners because of the demand for animal pelts.

“They made a fur hat out of my dog, Vesta,� read the signboard hanging from a boy of about 12.

Soviets are devoted pet owners and, although the protection of animal rights is a fairly new concept to them, it promises to stir strong emotions.

“Our goals are entirely acceptable under the principles of our government. See, even (Soviet founder V. I.) Lenin loved cats,� declared Lyudmila Yegorova, hoisting a poster showing a smiling Lenin caressing a feline.

She and dozens of other members of officially registered pet clubs have formed a group called the Assn. for the Defense of Homeless Animals.

Group members said they will be staging regular demonstrations and petition drives to improve the lot of domestic pets in the Soviet Union.

Association member Yuri A. Rychinsky read an appeal to the Moscow City Council, demanding that authorities stop rounding up stray animals and exterminating them the next day.

The group also seeks more government investment in veterinary services and more humane means of destroying incurably ill animals.