Three dogs attack a mother and child near Cementara: the police say it's not their job, and the "Lajka" shelter is full

The pavement on Boris Trajkovski boulevard, opposite the petrol station by the Cementara cement works in Kisela Voda. A mother and her seven-year-old daughter are walking, and three dogs start towards them. The only way out they could find was the road - between moving cars.

"We escaped serious injury by a hair. To save ourselves, we were forced to run out into a street full of moving cars," the mother wrote on social media. There were no serious injuries, but that is down to luck, not to any institution.

Then the second race began, the one through the institutions. She reported the attack to the police, who explained they are not responsible for stray dogs and sent her to the public enterprise "Lajka". "How long will responsibility keep being passed from one institution to another?" she asks. It is not a new question in Skopje.

And "Lajka"? Director Vojislav Dimitrovski says the shelter, with a capacity of around 180 dogs, is completely full. About 50 animals stay longer because of treatment, behavioural assessment, or because nobody has adopted them. The enterprise works on a "catch - neuter - vaccinate - return" basis, which means many of the dogs end up right back where they were caught.

On paper the numbers are rising. In 2026 around 30 percent more dogs were treated than last year, and since September field work has increased by 59 percent. Two shifts have been introduced, along with a trial period of round-the-clock field coverage. Not one of those figures helped the mother running between cars with her child.

Who is supposed to act when a pack attacks on a pavement - the police, "Lajka" or the City? While the institutions bounce the question between them, out on the street the dogs are answering it. Does a child have to be hurt first before anyone takes responsibility?