Dec. 22, 2025, 10:22 a.m.
(PHOTO COLLAGE: Intent)
Odesa police have opened an investigation into the death of two kittens at the Cat Lounge in the Athens shopping center.
The Main Department of the National Police in Odesa Oblast told Intent that the proceedings have been initiated on the grounds of cruelty to animals.
The establishment offered visitors to rent kittens, but during an inspection initiated by animal rights activists, it turned out that the conditions of the animals were inadequate. In addition, one kitten turned out to be dead, and another, seized by police at the facility, died in a veterinary clinic.
PHOTO: Anzhelika Karapetyan
On December 21, animal rights activists held a rally near the mall, demanding that the facility be closed. The activists also asked an employee of the facility to provide documents for the animals. Journalist Anzhelika Karapetyan published a video in which the employee of the institution was asked about the availability of veterinary certificates and other documents for the animals, but she was unable to provide them.
PHOTO: Anzhelika Karapetyan
The veterinarian did not complete the inspection and left the facility, saying that he was not satisfied with being filmed.
Earlier, raccoon campaigns swept the city, and in November, the Prymorskyi District Prosecutor's Office of Odesa opened criminal proceedings against the director of the Odesa Zoo, Ihor Bilyakov, who is charged with cruelty to animals for allegedly mistreating raccoons and other animals. Ihor Bilyakov himself denied the accusations, noting that numerous photos and videos circulated on social media are manipulated and made deliberately with a perspective that distorts reality in order to form a negative attitude towards the municipal institution.
In September, experts from the State Ecological Inspectorate of the Southwestern District visited the private zoo Bio-Park in Odesa to verify information about the injured raccoon, which, according to activists, was kept in inadequate conditions.
Кирило Бойко