An employee of the Derbent dog shelter has been reinstated.

The Derbent City Court approved a settlement agreement between the veterinary sanitary officer of the municipal animal shelter and its management. The woman was fired after she published a video on social media about the severe and unsanitary conditions in which the dogs were kept.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", at the end of January 2026, the Regional Management Center in Dagestan reported on the organization of an inspection of the dog shelter in Derbent. The shelter administration assured the city official that they had everything necessary for the animals.

The decision approved by the court reinstates the employee who was fired from the shelter after publishing about the improper conditions for keeping dogs in the institution.

The woman had worked at the shelter since December 2024. In January 2026, she published a post on social media about the severe conditions for keeping animals, after which, according to her, she was not allowed to work, her phone was broken, she was beaten, and she received death threats. Police recorded the incident, the unified press service of the courts of Dagestan reported today on their Telegram channel.

The director of the shelter stated that she was not working, but there was no order for her dismissal. Only after contacting the prosecutor's office and the labor inspectorate was she issued an order dated May 5, 2026. Considering the dismissal illegal, the fired shelter employee went to court with demands for reinstatement, recovery of wages for forced absenteeism, and compensation for moral damage.

In court, the parties reached a settlement agreement: the employer reinstated the employee and paid her wages for the period from May 5 to August 14, 2026. The court approved the agreement and terminated the proceedings in the case, the press service clarifies.

In addition, on July 22, 2026, the Kirov District Court of Makhachkala satisfied the claim of the regional office of the Rosselkhoznadzor about unacceptable violations in the animal shelter. The court's decision was received by the agency on August 14, the press service of the Rosselkhoznadzor reported on its website.

In May of this year, during an inspection, Rosselkhoznadzor inspectors identified violations in the shelter for stray animals of the public organization for the protection of animals "Ecolife" in the village of Jalgan in the Derbent district. During the inspection, it was found that the shelter lacked a veterinary point for receiving, examining, and treating dogs, and the dogs themselves were not registered with the district veterinary service, and preventive measures were not carried out by the service's employees.

As a result, "Ecolife" was issued warnings, but the organization did not comply with them, then the Rosselkhoznadzor service filed a lawsuit in the Kirov District Court of Makhachkala to prohibit the keeping of animals in violation of legal requirements.

The court fully satisfied the claims of the Rosselkhoznadzor, recognizing the actions of "Ecolife" as illegal, and ordered the elimination of violations of veterinary legislation requirements.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in mid-September 2025, law enforcement agencies in Dagestan initiated a criminal case against animal rights activist Irina Karpova after a complaint from a man who ran over four puppies to death in Makhachkala with his car, as she published the full name of the car driver, his photo, and phone number. Later, the criminal case against Irina Karpova was terminated at the initiative of the prosecutor's office. Karpova believed that the publicity of the situation and her appeal to the head of Dagestan influenced this decision.