Speculations about the intention of the City Hall of Tbilisi to transfer the function of animal control to a commercial company have been circulating for a while. In October 2003 ARC filed a formal request for public information with the City Hall, seeking clarifications on this issue.

Despite the statutory requirement to respond to written inquiries within ten business days, our request was disregarded. In response, ARC filed an administrative complaint with the City Hall and threatened to sue the latter in the court if the requested documents were not released. Eventually, the City Hall released a copy of the Decree No. 08.20.168 on the formation of the Animal Control Center Ltd.

According to the Decree, the Center is founded to estimate and control the number of stray animals in Tbilisi and facilitate the efforts targeting rabies. For this purpose, the Center will construct a modern animal shelter and crematorium in the suburbs of Tbilisi. Neither the Decree of the City Hall nor charter of the Center say anything about the future strategy and methods of animal control.

ARC is currently studying the Decree and the charter to come up with its position concerning such transition. Both documents contain a number of vague provisions that need to be clarified. The failure of the City Hall to discuss the matter with local animal welfare organizations before passing the Decree and its failure to release the Decree based on ARC's initial request already raise some doubts. On the other hand, these are the first official documents providing for the construction of an animal shelter. Therefore, ARC is determined to work with the City Hall in this endeavor.