Muscovites will form a human chain on Tuesday...

According to animal rights activists, the city"s authorities plan to amend the current legislation on strays, allowing municipal shelters to selectively put to sleep sick, old and aggressive animals.

"In practice it would be mass slaughter of all stray and lost animals taken to the city"s animal shelters. In this country the word "euthanasia" means cruel killing by curare-type poisons, which lead to an agonizing death from asphyxia," said Yelena Nadyozhkina, an activist with the Alliance for Animal Rights.

"Residents of Moscow will demand the reintroduction of the humane project of sterilizing stray animals and to prevent legitimization of putting stray animals in shelters to sleep," organizers said in a statement.

According to various estimates, there are from 10,000 to 70,000 stray dogs in Moscow. Every year their number increases by 2,000-5,000 animals.

MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)