Everything for cats: The Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation banned bricking up basements

The authorities will open the basements to cats: after long discussions and numerous demands of animal rights activists, the decision has been officially made. And the Deputy Minister of Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Andrey Chibis wrote on his Facebook page: "We have found a compromise solution — #Kotikizhkh will not be walled up!"

According to the decision of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, adjustments will be made to the rules of operation of the housing stock: from now on, it is forbidden to immure basements in buildings. In the foundation of each apartment building, there should be air vents — special holes for air circulation measuring 15 by 15 centimeters.

For more than a dozen years, homeless animals have actually been immured in basements, when the manholes were closed with a net or even brewed. Animal rights activists have been actively engaged in this problem, beating the thresholds of officials for almost 20 years. And on the Internet they began to create whole groups to help immured cats in basements.

Photo of the "Charity Fund for the Protection of Urban Animals"

At the beginning of the noughties, the decree of the State Construction Committee on the operation of the housing fund introduced the wording that the organization servicing the housing fund "must provide protection against the penetration of rodents, cats and dogs into basements."

As a result, closing the entrances to the basement turned out to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the closure of the manholes led to the fact that the animals could not get out and slowly died in the basement from hunger. Another problem was that when cats could not get into the basement, rodents bred there.

So, now, according to the new rules, there must be holes in the foundation. They should not be walled up in any case, since they are necessary for air exchange. An exception can be made only during very severe frosts. But whether to install grids on them or not is decided by the general meeting of the owners of the house.

Deputy Minister Andrey Chibis strokes a cat in the Kursk entrance. Photo from Facebook

Previously, when animal rights activists applied to law enforcement agencies about the problem with immured animals, they were told that they could do nothing, because there are sanitary standards. Now, if you see a walled-up cat, you have the right to contact the police on the fact of animal cruelty.