Posts tagged soccer city

When a cow was slaughtered to bless the opening of Soccer City in the buildup to this summer’s World Cup, someone somewhere was surely protesting. However, where there are religious and cultural issues at hand, it’s a bit of a grey area and opinions are divided.

This one’s a little bit less of a grey area, even for someone who’s anything but an animal lover (guilty): Ukraine may slaughter strays ahead of Euro 2012.

Quick, somebody get Sarah McLachlan to do a commercial.

Predictably, PETA’s pissed. Activist Tamara Tarnavska seems to be leading the charge while also informing us of all Euro 2012 has to offer (it’s like Vegas, but with football):

“The idea is not to stop Euro 2012,” she said. “Of course we cannot stop the fans. The fans want to see football [soccer], prostitutes in Kiev and vodka — I cannot stop them with the stray animals. But people who really care about the environment, who really care about the lives of others cannot visit Kiev or the other cities at this time.”

She continued: “Hundreds of thousands of animals [will be killed across Ukraine in the run-up to the tournament]. The Ukrainian authorities really haven’t done anything to take care of the stray animals. No shelters or neutering work. Just catch and kill.”

“The problem will be resolved without question,” said Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov, whose portfolio consists exclusively in making sure that Ukraine is prepared to host Euro 2012. “There will be enough money to save all the animals.”

But Tarnavska says that so far her official appeals have gone unanswered. What’s more, she fears that the money dedicated to preserving the country’s animals will disappear down a black hole of corruption, as it has in the past.

Stereotypes are bad, but also are typically generated for a reason and Ukrainian authorities have been in enough hot water over a lack of progress that even if the money for the safe removal of animals isn’t used to buy Committee Member X’s mistress a new mink, it may go to other things deemed more important, like roadways or vodka.

So the animals need saving, and the spotlight has been thrust into use:

Already she says the movement has garnered the signature of several celebrities, including George Clooney, Brigit Bardot and Ukrainian world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

Then they should simply allow the Klitschko brothers to run around town punching animal officials in the face, acting the part of superhero, while George Clooney pretends to be a superhero pretty well (but not quite good enough for an Academy Award).

Problem solved.