In Kyiv, cats were locked in the basement with bars: the police revealed the details of the case

Kyiv police

Cruelty to animals was probably exposed in Kyiv recently. Residents of a house in the Desnyan district installed bars on the windows of the basement where the cats lived.

Two kittens were found dead, and other locked animals were able to get out thanks to local volunteers.

Help Animals Of Ukraine organization called the police, and they opened criminal proceedings, but now the animal rescuers are preparing a statement about the inaction of the law enforcement officers.

In a comment to “UP. Life”, the capital’s police officers told how the investigation is progressing and commented on accusations of inaction.

What happened?

It became known about the dead cats in the basement of Desnyan district on February 26. Local activists probably noticed the locked cat and called the precinct.

People asked the head of the household management to open the door, but at first she did not agree. When the volunteers called the team and gained access to the basement, one cat came out, and the other two were lying dead.

More law enforcement officers were called to the scene, and they drew up a protocol, and then informed about the investigation. However animal rights activists said that they are preparing a statement about the inactivity of the Kyiv police. Maryna Surkova, a lawyer for the organization, told “Hromadskyi” about this in a comment.

“They (volunteers – ed.) went into the basement and found two dead cats. I approached the investigative team, which was already there. I asked to record it, they refused. I asked to inspect the scene and draw up an appropriate protocol, take the corpses as proof – they also refused”, – says the lawyer.

Surkova claims that the next called team also “refused to carry out investigative and operative actions.” According to the woman, law enforcement officers did not question the volunteers who found the dead cats, and criminal proceedings were opened after publicity.

At the same time, the Kyiv police deny inaction.

“As far as I know, these cats were picked up on the same day. The investigative task force is led by an investigator, he keeps a report of the inspection of the scene. If he was told to ‘take it now’ and he picked it up an hour later, while he was filling out the report, then they have order…They inspect the scene.

The head of the unit says that he removed the bodies of the animals a priori because they are the subjects of research. It’s just that there is a certain specificity of the investigator’s work,” – says spokesman Dmytro Hryshchenko.

Information about a possible crime has already been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations under Part 3 of Article 299 of the Criminal Code – cruelty to animals.

The examination will establish the cause of death of the animals, and, accordingly, suspect the culprit.

“On the day when the corpses were discovered, criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 3, Article 299. The bodies of the cats were sent for an examination to determine the cause of death. We are now waiting for the results“, Dmytro adds.

If found guilty of “walling up” kittens, they face imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years.