PLN 1.5 million – this is how much the Krakow city hall has reserved in the draft budget for the purchase of plots for the construction of the Wild Animal Center and a burial ground. Confidential negotiations regarding this investment are currently underway.
Krakow residents have been trying to establish a cemetery for animals for 20 years. This has not been possible so far, among other things, due to protests from residents of previously selected locations. Now officials are pointing to the area of Łubinowa Street, near the Kujawy Sewage Treatment Plant.
The burial ground in Krakow, if built, will be the first such place in Małopolska.
First of all, a hospital
As Dominika Jaźwiecka-Bujalska from the press office of the Krakow city hall emphasizes, the area around the sewage treatment plant is considered primarily as an area for the construction of the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center. However, the vice-president of the city, Stanisław Mazur, in an interview with Radio Kraków, indicated that the burial ground could be built in the vicinity of this clinic.
“It is possible that the possibility of merging both investments is being considered by Vice-President Stanisław Mazur. However, due to the nature of the activities carried out and the confidentiality of the negotiation processes, we will not provide information at this time,” we read in the message sent to our editorial office by Jaźwiecka-Bujalska.
The official said that the draft budget includes funds for the purchase of plots for the construction of the clinic in the amount of PLN 1.5 million. “The location at ul. Łubinowa in Kujawy, in the area of the sewage treatment plant, is considered as an area to be acquired primarily for the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center, and not for a burial ground,” she noted.
The creation of a cemetery is being sought by, among others, the Krakow for Residents association, which has prepared a petition to the mayor of the city on this matter.
“Losing your own pet is an extremely painful experience. In such situations, every owner would like to say goodbye to their pet in a dignified and legal way. Polish regulations do not allow burial in one's own garden or in a publicly accessible area. Despite this, many people respect for their dead companion, decides to break the law. There are also those who travel a long way to a place where they can legally bury their animal,” we read in the petition.
They don't want a cemetery in Olszanica
There are only a dozen or so animal cemeteries in Poland. We can find them in Gdańsk, Słupsk, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Rybnik, Piła, Bytom, Halinów, Szymanów, Rzędziany, Rakszawa, Ropczyce, Sicienko, Kąty Wrocławskie and Konik Nowy. The latter is the oldest, established in 1991. Krakow's inhabitants are closest to Bytom – about 120 kilometers.
In Krakow, one of the locations considered for the burial ground was the area of the University of Agriculture in Olszanica. As Dominika Jaźwiecka-Bujalska from the press office of the Krakow City Hall reminds, an environmental decision was even issued for this area, which is the result of “very intensive work that has taken place in recent years.”
However, this plan sparked protests from residents who believed that the cemetery would destroy a wet meadow that should become an ecological area or protected area.
“Taking into account the nature of the land in which the remains will be buried, the high level of groundwater (already from 40 cm) and its flow towards the north-east (towards the Olszanicki stream and houses located 50 meters from the planned cemetery) and the direction of the winds – the implementation of the investment may lead to an ecological disaster. – activists wrote in 2019.
In 2021, the university's spokeswoman, Izabela Majewska, said that the University of Agriculture is forced to abandon the construction of the burial ground. We have asked the UR to ask whether this position is current and we are waiting for an answer.
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