Law enforcement agencies have a suspect in the mistreatment of cormorants

June 22, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Law enforcement agencies have a suspect in the cruel treatment of cormorants on Lake Lukomskoye in the Chashniki district, the head of the Chashniki District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Yuri Chernousov, told a BELTA correspondent today. The suspect is not affiliated with the fish farm and injured the birds out of personal animosity: they interfered with his fishing. While the damage caused by the citizen is being calculated, it is too early to say what kind of responsibility he may face – administrative or criminal, the interlocutor added. Currently, based on the decision of the district commission for providing assistance to wild animals in distress, the district inspectorate, together with employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and members of the Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, is catching the injured cormorants, euthanizing them and disposing of them. "This is the only way to prevent the birds from dying a painful death by starvation," emphasized Yuri Chernousov. Since June 20, 15 birds have been euthanized. Today, work is also underway on the island and around it to catch the unfortunate birds. According to Yuri Chernousov, several dozen cormorants, but not hundreds, suffered from the barbarian's actions. As previously reported, dozens of cormorant chicks with cut beaks were found by ornithologists on an island in Lake Lukomskoye in the Chashniki district. The Chashniki District Department of Internal Affairs was conducting a check on this fact. The case of cruel treatment of cormorant chicks is under the control of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. The cormorant is included in the list of wild animals of undesirable species. This means that hunters are allowed to hunt them. "However, the fact that the cormorant is a large undesirable species absolutely does not justify the behavior of those people who treated the birds in a monstrous way," the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection believes. "According to the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, cruel treatment of animals, resulting in their death or injury, as well as torture of animals, entails a fine of 10 to 30 basic units or administrative arrest." -0-