MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. The Russian State Duma at a plenary session on Tuesday adopted in the first reading a bill allowing the country’s regions to decide how to treat stray animals.

The bill, submitted to the State Duma in April, proposes to amend the law on the responsible treatment of animals. The current norms establish a unified set of measures for dealing with stray animals, including catching them, taking them to animal shelters, sterilization, vaccination and return of non-aggressive animals to their habitat.

The new norms establish that "the measures for dealing with stray animals can be determined by the laws of Russia’s regions." Thus, they will be the ones to decide whether certain animals need to be caught and taken to animal shelters.

According to the lawmakers, the bill has caused a strong public response, with the State Duma receiving over 20,000 suggestions. The deputies pointed out that the bill does not abolish the existing system and "does not close animal shelters." They said that the purpose of the bill is to help Russia's regions, which cannot meet the requirements of the law regarding the organization of animal shelters due to "their remoteness and small population.".