Activists accuse aerobatic team commander of animal cruelty

Ivan Barsov, commander of the Barsy aerobatic team from Surgut, found himself at the center of a scandal after taking a dog named Bortich on a flight. The animal experienced weightlessness during an aerobatic maneuver, which animal rights activists considered cruel treatment.

«This is not the first time animals have been used for the entertainment of the mob. A person does this to test themselves. A person has an ego, an element of overcoming. An animal does not think in such categories; for it, this is stress, pain, and fear. On our part, we are writing an appeal to the legislative assembly, the faction where this deputy is from, to Rosaviation, and so on. In general, we will write about our position on the issue of the inadmissibility of such entertainment,» — Ekaterina Dmitrieva, director of the Fund for the Protection of Urban Animals, told Abzac.

Ivan Barsov believes that such statements are merely a «desire to gain publicity with their overly sensitive ones». According to the pilot, people all over the world calmly fly with their pets, and this is normal.

«Bortich is at the airfield every day, he is used to operating aircraft. And even after this landing, as usual, he immediately wanted to go on the next flight. A professional veterinarian said that Bortich would have experienced more stress if he had flown alone in the baggage compartment of a Boeing,» the pilot commented.

Earlier we wrote that in early July, Barsov«s wife and pilot of the aerobatic team Snezana Ignatenko were found guilty of organizing unsafe flights. They believe that the evidence was fabricated and filed an appeal against the court verdict.

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