On July 9, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Chashniki District Prosecutor's Office, in accordance with the law, has extended the inspection period in the case of cruelty to cormorant chicks by another ten days, until July 19, as reported to BELTA correspondent by Maxim Zinovik, acting prosecutor of Chashniki District. The police are continuing their verification activities, although, according to unofficial information, the person involved in harming cormorant chicks on an island in Lake Lukomskoye in mid-June has been identified. Upon completion of the police investigation, the local village council will prepare documents for court proceedings. By decision of the District Commission for Assistance to Wild Animals in Distress, the district inspector, together with employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and members of the Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, captured the injured birds, euthanized them, and disposed of them. Euthanasia was the only way to prevent 28 birds with the upper part of their beaks cut off from dying a torturous death by starvation. The case of cruelty to cormorant chicks is under the control of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. The cormorant is included in the list of undesirable wild animal species, and its hunting is permitted. However, cruelty to any birds is unacceptable and punishable by law. According to the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, cruelty to animals resulting in their death or injury entails a fine of 10 to 30 base units or administrative arrest. Two years ago, a precedent occurred in the Vitebsk region: a resident of Glubokoye was brought to administrative responsibility for tormenting a bird. The man decided to use a live jackdaw as a scarecrow in his garden and tied it by the leg with a rope to a pole he had installed on a tree. The suffering of the bird, which was trying to fly away, did not leave the neighbors indifferent, and they called the environmentalists. The inspector and the local police officer rescued the tormented bird, and an administrative report was drawn up against the tormentor. The court found the Glubokoye resident guilty and, considering his admission of guilt and the fact that the bird remained alive, sentenced him to a minimum fine of Br350 thousand (the base unit in 2010 was Br35 thousand). -0-

BELTA