Sofia fails against theft and `poaching' of roaming animals

Sir

In recent years, the money spent by Sofia Municipality on animal control has been increasing every year. In 2008, the draft budget is just more than a million leva. But the resources have been spent almost completely on sterilisation and release in the streets of thousands of unwanted dogs of unknown origin.

For example, in the Hemus Hotel area I recently came across a new tame dog wearing a collar from the Ekoravnovesie Municipal Animal Control with the identity number 03202. Obviously it had been picked up somewhere else and released here, despite the presence of dozens of neighbourhood dogs. On the next day, I came across the same dog again, this time in Graf Ignatiev Street, three km from the first location. It will probably disappear just like most of the unsupervised dogs and cats left in the streets. This is a routine practice.

Ekoravnovesie director Miroslav Naydenov insists that the same inappropriate policy should be accepted concerning cats.

On February 12 2008, Novinar Daily reported the proposal that he had made to Sofia Municipality Ecology Committee to fund a simple tag and release cat control system. At the same time, the authorities are not considering using a system of low-cost sterilisation of owned pets. Consider the experience of San Mateo County, California, where between 1970 and 1975 the use of such a system led to a drop in the number of euthanised cats by more than 60 per cent, from 21 796 to 8413.

Ecoravnovesie does not count all cases of lost dogs. According to the records of the San Diego County Animal Control, during the 1993-1994 season 4014 lost dogs were returned to their owners; and a further 159 were unwanted animals, legally given to research centres. Comparing the data from Sofia and San Diego shelters, there is a striking lack of an official record of lost or abandoned animals that were supposed to be rescued. Every day new advertisements are posted seeking lost pets. Most of these pets cannot be found in shelters and disappear forever. Obviously, when they are left alone outside, they are collected and become victims of all kinds of abuse.

So far the official institutions, public organisations and the SPCA have refuse to discuss this horrific reality. The theme of the laboratory use of cats and dogs also remains taboo.

Compared to Western Europe and the US, where animal abuse is prosecuted, Bulgaria has a long time ago become "the land of unlimited opportunities". The recently-adopted Animal Protection Act has omissions including not requiring mayors to take responsibility for immediate sheltering of newly-found stray animals, and the lack of a legal system for the supply of laboratory animals.

Emil Kuzmanov, founder
The Animal Programmes Foundation
Sofia