Adoption plan Protests spearheaded by the former actress turned animal rights activist, Brigitte Bardot, led to a compromise. The dogs were to be rounded up, sterilised then offered for adoption. But since then, only 2,000 dogs have been adopted. And the mayor claims that most of these have been returned to the street. He appears to have now lost patience and has said that all strays including those already in compounds must be put to death.
Opinion is divided in Romania over the planned slaughter.
Many inhabitants of Bucharest have become quite fond of their local strays. Others fear them and applaud the mayor's courage for tackling a problem which has tarnished the city's image for the past decade. Berlusconi takes power Middle East focus for EU ministers EU 'to probe DVD pricing' Swiss troops to bear arms abroad Ralf tames Michael in Canada Spanish protest at Bush visit Frankfurt airport prepares to float Links to more Europe stories are at the foot of the page.