domestic animals (pets) Some Animal Welfare Issues in Bulgaria Vocational High School of Veterinary Medicine Dobrich, Bulgaria

Contents 1.Can you give us a survey (statistics) about pets in your families? 2.What is the situation of homeless animals in your country? 3.Which(national) laws for protection of domestic animals / of stray or abandoned animals does there exist in your country? 4. 4.What is the situation of animal shelters in your country? 5.Does international cooperation open up new / better chances of improving the situation of homeless (abandoned / stray) animals?

1. Can you give us a survey (statistics) about pets in your families? How many / which kind of animals are living in the households of your fellow students? Where do these animals come from (e.g. breeder, pet shop, internet store, gift by friends or relatives, animal shelter, organization for protection of animals, …) ? Is the result of your survey in your school representative for your region / country? 1. Have you got a pet at home? NO- 25% 2. What kind of pet have you got? ornamental exotic dog- 50% cat- 30% f ish- 8% bird- 6% rabbit hamster 6% YES- 75% 3. Where do these pets come from? animal from the animal gift- 45% store 35% street- 15% breeder 5%

2. What is the situation of homeless animals (stray animals / abandoned animals; mainly cats and dogs, I suppose) in your country (if need be: in the different parts of your country)? How many cats and / or dogs are living as stray animals on the streets, how many in animal shelters? Bulgaria needs your help! 8,000 to 10,000 stray dogs  There's a huge problem with stray dog and cat overpopulation in Bulgaria. Their number is countless in the whole country. For example: for the capital (Sofia) alone estimates range between 8,000 to 10,000 stray dogs. For Dobrich at about The result is stray animals struggling to survive on the street that we see every day. It is not easy to be a homeless animal in Bulgaria!

Are there measures taken to decrease the number of stray / abandoned animals? What kind of measures? Who is responsible of it?  Each municipality receives some amount of money from the Bulgarian Government and is responsible for finding its own way of coping with the problem with the stray dogs.  Animal protection organizations function in many towns, The CCR (capture-castrate-release) method has been practiced for stray animals. When the captured dogs have already been castrated and vaccinated, they get a color plastic earring. This means that they are also already registered with the given organization, for which purpose every organization has its own color of the earring. This also serves in order if a complaint has been failed against a certain stray dog, its care organization will take the responsibility for its actions.

  Priority measures suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) include spaying of female dogs to avoid unwanted pregnancies and the rearing of young animals.   Dog’s treatment with worming tablets.  Dog’s  Dog’s vaccination against rabies   Registration and identification of household pets (using microchips and other means to trace ownership and reduce the number of abandoned animals);   Free access to information and education of the public, etc.

3. Which (national) laws for protection of domestic animals / of stray or abandoned animals does there exist in your country? Are these laws actually kept? Are there measures taken to guarantee the keeping of the laws? What happens if someone acts against the laws? Can you as a private person do something to have a the law carried through? The Bulgarian Parliament Bulgaria was the last EU country to vote an Animal Welfare Law but now it is among those with 96 highest animal welfare level.  24 January 2008: The Bulgarian Parliament voted the Animal Welfare Act (APA). Bulgaria was the last EU country to vote an Animal Welfare Law but now it is among those with 96 highest animal welfare level.

The Law is relatively good, there are claims for a modern examination of some of the problems. However, its control is insufficient. The law identify the animal violations as administrative and the Criminal Code qualifies them as crimes. Currently the fine for the person, who is convicted of serious crueltyto an animal could reach 500 leva (about 250 euro) and that`s it. Law on Veterinary Activity (LVA) 2009 The new Law on Veterinary Activity cancels the inhumane practice which allowed for the euthanasia of animals which had not been searched for by their owners during the obligatory two-week period stay and which prevented the stray animals from being released to their natural environment following the catch-castrate-release method.

4. What is the situation of animal shelters in your country? Who is responsible for maintaining the shelter (e.g. municipality, private persons, a society, …) ? Who is financing the shelters? Are there interests (financial or other) that encourage / hinder the adoption of animals from a shelter? What happens to animals which couldn’t get adopted after a certain / fixed period? Local authorities are generally responsible for issues related to stray dogs and for the maintenance of municipal shelters. Currently Bulgaria has Municipal Programmes for Stray Dog Population Control (2008) and Shelter Rules and Regulations, and city councils have approved of Orders for the Sequence and Conditions for the Rearing of Animals in Built-up Areas.

 Most of the thirty existing Bulgarian animal shelters are overwhelmed with limited resources. Most strays that go to Bulgaria’s shelters will never be adopted and those left on the streets will continue to produce future generations as spay and neuter programs are few and far between.  Animal welfare initiatives currently have but While awareness of the need to care for the country’s large stray population is on the rise,  Animal welfare initiatives currently have a small, but growing, presence in Bulgaria. While awareness of the need to care for the country’s large stray population is on the rise, attitudes towards strays remain largely indifferent and many citizens are unable to feed, shelter and care for the animals living on their streets.  Most strays that go to Bulgaria’s shelters will never be adopted and those left on the streets will continue to produce future generations as spay and neuter programs are few and far between.

5. Does international cooperation open up new / better chances of improving the situation of homeless (abandoned / stray) animals? German-Bulgarian help for animalswww.db-tierhilfe.de Yes, there are many animal welfare organization that seeks to help save the lives of homeless animals by assisting individuals who rescue animals and by providing veterinary care, shelter and food for the animal. Four Paws Afa BSAPP www. dailapa.wordpress.com Give a paw Without a Home

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 ‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’ This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’