Tuesday, Sep. 10, Parliament voted for thousands of stray dogs in the city of Bucharest, Romania to be captured and euthanized.

The decision came after four year old Ionut Anghel was attacked by five stray dogs in the city’s park, ending in his death.The family of the boy are supportive of this new movement of mass slaughter, but should their hatred be directed toward the dogs?

Residents who have been hit by tough economic times tend to leave their furry friends to fend for themselves, adding to the constantly growing number of strays in the city, which has become a dire problem. Stray dogs have been a rapidly expanding topic of debate in the last few years, with people accumulating countless bites over the last year alone.

Romanian President Traian Basescu was quick to pass a bill euthanizing thousands of the strays, and stating in opposition of the option of sterilization, “dogs should not be put above humans.” This is a barbaric display of superiority when the real problem is not four legged.

But who knows what would happen if a bill at a national level were to be passed for the neutering of dogs; would it decrease the population of stray dogs and already overcrowded shelters? Possibly, but why make thousands upon thousands of homeless dogs suffer for the wrongdoings of their human counterparts?