Prosecutors cited no signs of a crime after Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said five or six activists should be “taken away and put to sleep.” An activist’s complaint will not lead to an investigation into his words.
Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office told the media on 4 November that it would not investigate Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze’s remarks about animal rights activists, saying there were no signs of a criminal offense. Activist Lasha Chkhartishvili had filed a complaint seeking an investigation, arguing that the remarks could be understood as a threat.
The dispute followed TV Pirveli’s October 31 footage of what appeared to be dead dogs being taken from a municipal shelter to Veli Cemetery, where animal remains were placed in pits at night. The footage prompted protests and led activists to examine burial sites. On 1 November, activists and citizens gathered outside the Government Administration in Tbilisi, demanding answers and accountability.
Asked by journalists on 3 November about the footage and the activists who had visited the sites, Kaladze said: “I’m not talking about everyone, but five or six people need to be taken away and put to sleep today, given the state they are in”. Activists interpreted the words as a threat. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze defended Kaladze, saying he had spoken figuratively.
Activists have raised concerns that healthy stray dogs may have been put to death without legal grounds. Tbilisi City Hall denied deliberate mass killing and said the footage showed lawful disposal of dogs that had died from illness, road accidents and natural causes. The city’s Animal Monitoring Agency also denied that live dogs were being buried after being deliberately put to sleep.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry confirmed on 1 November that it had opened an investigation under Article 259 of the Criminal Code, which covers animal torture, cruel treatment and other violence against animals. As of 5 November, that investigation had not established the circumstances of the deaths shown in the footage. Activists have called for forensic examinations to establish how the animals died and whether drugs were used to put them to sleep or sedate them.
On 5 November, City Hall called for law enforcement to take legal action against activists it accused of threatening and harassing Animal Monitoring Agency employees. It also alleged that activists threatened employees’ families, interfered with the agency’s work and excavated burial sites. City Hall claimed that activists published employees’ photographs on social media, called them murderers and torturers and accused them of burying animals alive.
City Hall said the grounds belonged to the municipal company Hermes and were intended for animal remains. It described the excavations as unlawful and potentially dangerous to public health and the environment.
Animal rights activist Natia Chikovani told OC Media that Kaladze’s words threatened citizens and that a mayor making such a threat should no longer be in office. She called on City Hall, the Animal Monitoring Agency, the National Food Agency and other authorities to release shelter registration and death records, sterilization and identification records, medical assessments, veterinary authorizations for euthanasia and documents about the remains. She said online registration and euthanasia documentation were required by law.
Chkhartishvili told InterpressNews that another protest would be held on 8 November if the authorities failed to respond.
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