Ashgabat Residents Restricted To One Dog, One Cat

by Kimberly Coleman and Patricia Collier

President Saparmurat Niazov of Turkmenistan has enacted new legislation in Ashgabat, the capital city, which decrees that residents may own a maximum of one dog and one cat.

Described as a "clean up" campaign, the law also makes it illegal to keep animals such as goats, cows, chickens, birds and bees within the city limits.

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Republic, has been building Ashgabat since 1991 when it achieved its independence. The country has a high unemployment rate and residents have been raising animals such as chickens and cows in order to survive.

Residents of suburban Ashgabat will now have to decide what to do with their family pets. Those with more than one dog and one cat have been told they will have to choose which animals to keep. Some residents have begun to hide their pets in order to avoid parting with them.

Finding homes for newborn puppies and kitten is expected to be difficult, given the one dog and one cat law now in place. Residents who keep more than the permitted number of animals will be considered to be in violation of regulations and subject to government action.

President Niyazov has run Turkmenistan since 1985 and has initiated several large projects designed to turn Ashgabat into a "model" capital city. According to his Niyazov, the ban is aimed at "improving the residential and sanitary-epidemiological conditions in the capital."

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.