No cages and a special car: budget committee approves spending cuts for programme for stray animals in Mykolaiv

The enclosure where the rescued animals temporarily live. Photo: NikVesti

The Budget Commission of the Mykolaiv City Council has approved the exclusion from the 2026-2030 programme for the treatment of stray animals of the costs of building new enclosures, purchasing a specialised vehicle and repairing a sterilisation unit.

The deputies made the decision during a meeting on Tuesday, 30 December, according to NikVesti.

Ihor Nabatov, deputy director of Mykolaiv's Department of Housing and Communal Services, said that the previous programme, which ran until 2025, had generally shown positive results.

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He also informed the audience about the cost of animal sterilisation in comparison to other cities.

«If we compare Kharkiv, Chernivtsi and Mykolaiv, our city ranks second after Kharkiv in terms of the overall cost of services. The cost of sterilisation in Mykolaiv is ₴1854, in Chernivtsi — ₴1800, and in Kharkiv — ₴1578. At the same time, if we take into account additional items: treatment, deworming, rabies vaccination and veterinary examination. If we sum up all the costs, the cost per animal is as follows: Kharkiv — ₴2658, Mykolaiv — ₴2834, Chernivtsi — ₴3235», explained Ihor Nabatov.

Andrii Yantar, a member of the Budget Committee, drew attention to the slow pace of reduction in the number of stray animals. According to him, in the period from 2017 to 2025, their number decreased by only 1250 animals.

«During these years, from 2017 to 2025, the number of animals decreased by 156 animals per year. We need 23 years to solve this problem. This is a long time. I believe that we need to intensify and reduce costs»," he said.

According to Andriy Yantar, costs can be optimised, in particular, by reducing the period of animal overstay from one week to three days. He also criticised the planned expenditures for the purchase of a vehicle for transporting animals worth ₴2.7 million.

«In a year, 1700 animals will be captured, i.e. 5-6 animals per day. Why do they need such an expensive vehicle?», he said.

In addition, the commission member proposed to exclude from the programme the construction of new enclosures, which were estimated at ₴120,000 per unit, as well as the cost of repairing the sterilisation unit. According to the draft programme, ₴6 million was planned to be spent on repairs in 2027, another ₴6 million in 2028, another ₴4.5 million on repairing additional premises, and an additional ₴1 million on repairing the fence.

«These funds can be used to build a new modern sterilisation facility. And this money is only for repairs», said Andrii Yantar.

The chairman of the commission, Fedir Panchenko, noted that in 2026 the utility company would still not receive funds for either cages or a car, so he proposed to exclude these items from the programme. According to him, the funds will be reallocated to these areas afterwards.

The members of the Budget Committee supported the proposals and voted in favour of the relevant amendments to the programme.

Earlier, the updated Cat and Dog Management Programme was supported by members of the executive committee. The document states that it was reported that the municipal enterprise «Animal Protection Centre» plans to repair the animal sterilisation point and purchase new equipment.

It is worth noting that in 2025, a major overhaul of this sterilisation point was already planned. However, due to lack of funding, the work was not carried out.

As a reminder, 1138 stray animals were sterilised in Mykolaiv during the year. Of these, 895 were dogs and 243 were cats.

Also in 2025, it became known that the number of stray animals in Mykolaiv decreased by 1260 compared to 2017.

Also, read the article NikVesti: «Those who do not speak: how animals survive the war in Mykolaiv