PODUJEVO: Panting puppies lie exhausted, wedged between the plastic bags and cartons spilling down a hillside in northern Kosovo, while other dogs snuffle around the dump hunting for edible morsels.
The sheer number of canines roaming free has become bothersome, and locals in the Podujevo district have drafted in experts to solve the problem “in the most humane way possible,” according to vet Albatrit Halili.
He is part of a team of local veterinarians led by the Four Paws NGO who are sterilising and vaccinating the mutts to keep the population under control.
Some estimates put their number at 50,000 in the tiny Balkan country, sandwiched between Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
“I believe this program is the only viable solution,” said Halili.
