State Duma Urged to Probe Rostov Shelter Deaths
No restrictive measures have been chosen for Tatiana Makarova, the director of the «Forgotten Hearts» shelter near Rostov, a 161.RU source reported. In December, volunteers found hundreds of dead animals at the shelter.
«Makarova is in a medical facility. Therefore, no restrictive measure has been chosen yet,» the source said.
So far, Makarova is only charged with animal cruelty. But police and volunteers have been gathering information about possible fraud by the director of «Forgotten Hearts.» Animal rights activists say that Makarova collected money from concerned Rostov residents supposedly for animal feed and medicine. But the cats and dogs were not treated, and they died from exhaustion and infections.
Animal rights activist Alena Kravtsova told 161.RU that activists are preparing an appeal to the State Duma.
«We are preparing one common statement and will promote it through Moscow, through State Duma deputies. Because we are kind of stuck. And we hope that we will manage not to silence this situation,» says Alena Kravtsova.
Earlier, police opened a hotline due to the tragedy at the «Forgotten Hearts» shelter. Police are waiting for information from people who donated money to Makarova or gave her animals for temporary keeping.
Tatiana Makarova was considered an authoritative animal rights activist in the Rostov region. On social media, she said that she evacuated abandoned animals from Mariupol and helped find cats and dogs after fires. She also actively participated during the collapse of an entrance of a five-story building on Narimanov Street in Rostov. At the same time, volunteers and animal rights activists recalled that they had long suspected Makarova of dishonesty. She did not report on spent donations and did not let anyone into the shelter.
