The head of the Shida Kartli Intermunicipal Agency for Stray Pets, Beka Giunashvili, has stated that information circulating on social media constitutes deliberate disinformation, designed to discredit both himself as director and the Agency as a whole. Giunashvili made the remarks in a post on his personal social media page.

He further asserted that a video address published on April 1 by citizen Tamaz Elizbarashvili amounts to a compendium of fabrications and preposterous accusations, with none of the so-called “facts” bearing any relation to reality.

“Given the considerable public interest this matter has attracted, I feel duty-bound to respond to the brazen falsehoods and deliberate disinformation that have been spreading across social media over the past several hours. Specifically, the video address published on April 1 by citizen Tamaz Elizbarashvili is a textbook example of false information, absurd accusations, and defamation rolled into one. Every “fact” he has put forward is a product of pure fantasy, serving a single purpose: to discredit me as director of the Agency and to undermine the reputation of the Shida Kartli Inter-Municipal Agency as a whole.

I wish to set the record straight for the public:

1. Regarding the vehicles of the National Food Agency: The allegation that vehicles belonging to the National Food Agency entered the Agency’s premises to deliver collected animals is an outright lie. No such fact has taken place, and this can be readily verified through official records.
2. Regarding the outrageous allegation of animals being burned alive: Tamaz Elizbarashvili’s claim that animals are being burned alive on the Agency’s premises constitutes an extremely serious offence, defamation that falls entirely outside the bounds of both moral decency and the law. It is a calculated attempt to stir up artificial public outrage against a state institution.
3. Regarding communications with Tamar Mosiashvili: I state with full responsibility that the information circulating to the effect that I confirmed to someone the unlawful destruction of animals is a lie. No communication of that nature has ever taken place.
4. Regarding the operation of the crematorium (incinerator): As the Agency has already clarified in its official statement, the incinerator is used exclusively for the disposal of medical waste, a sanitary requirement established by law, and is emphatically not an instrument for the mass destruction of animals.

Today has made it abundantly clear that a portion of so-called animal lovers, led by Tamaz Elizbarashvili, are engaged in the deliberate vilification of state bodies and public officials. Their actions are provocative in nature and aimed at derailing programmes of strategic importance, namely sterilisation and castration initiatives. I urge the public to refrain from being swayed by emotionally charged and unverified allegations. The Agency operates, and will continue to operate, solely in accordance with Georgian law, its own charter, and the full observance of humane principles. Given the gravity of the matter, I reserve the right to employ every available legal mechanism to defend my professional reputation and that of the Agency,” Beka Giunashvili wrote.