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Wild Dogs Strike Again: University ‘Can Do Nothing’
Claudiu Ludoşan
Wild dogs have bitten at least three students on the campus of the Law School in recent weeks but university authorities say they are powerless to solve the problem. The Bullet drew attention to these dog attacks in its November 2007 issue. But nothing has been done and students are still being threatened, terrorized and injured.
First-year sociology student Ana-Maria Şuică, who lives in the Mihail Kogălniceanu Dorm, was attacked in April. “I was coming home one night, and a few dogs came at me. I tried to shake them off and even more dogs came. I got real scared, I screamed, but no one heard me. After that, they suddenly stopped barking and disappeared into the night. I’ve been left with a trauma. I’ve never feared a dog in my life, but now I do,” she said.
“I didn’t see them coming because it was dark. And when the others appeared, I got even more scared. What should I do from now on? I won’t come home at night anymore, because they’ll attack. It’s awfully unpleasant,” Şuică said.
Dr. Elena Drăcea, who heads university health services, confirmed there had beens several cases of dog bites this year. “Everyone knows my opinion. Just get the dogs out,” she said. The dogs usually attack at night, trying to protect their territory, but there have also been cases of dogs threatening people during the day. A university official, who requested not to be named, has to go around the campus every day to get to work to avoid being attacked.
“Each day I have to make a detour so I can get to work without being bitten by those dogs. We have dogs in the campus, we have dogs on the stairs and we even have them running around the hallways in the university. The problem is that there are people in the university, dog lovers, including senior university officials, who feed them every day. But they love them because they park their car in front, and don’t cross the whole yard. I love dogs too, but when they start biting my students and me that’s another thing,” said the official.
Marian Cilibiu, general administrative director for the University of Bucharest, said some dogs are kept penned up. As for those which run freely throughout the campus, he said there was nothing he could do. “There are five gates to the campus. What can I do against wild dogs? I need to have two or three employees to catch them,” said Cilibiu.
As it turns out, the pen in which some of the wild dogs are supposed to be locked, had a hole in the fence and there were no four-legged animals inside when this reporter recently visited. Asked about this, Cilibiu said: “I didn’t know anything about that. I will send someone to repair it at the beginning of next week.”
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