| THE DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE HABITUAL BREEDING IS AN EVER-CHANGEABLE OVERPOPULATION. An immense number of the animals bred by the pet lovers from their very birth have no chance to find suitable homes. They are doomed to a short lifespan and death wherever that may be in the unlicensed laboratories, illegal fur-mills or in a newly-opened shelter. THE INTENSIVE AND ILLICIT TRAFFIC OF PET ANIMALS IN BULGARIA IS A RESULT OF THE POLITICAL CORRUPTION. Bulgarian authorities neglect all necessary measures to control the population of cats and dogs as foreseen in the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals and Veterinary Act. Bulgarian authorities do not undertake restriction of the movements of pet animals by systems for permanent identification and registration, as a starting point for EU measures in this field. At the present there are only few functional dog shelters in Bulgaria, in which mostly enter roaming cross-breds. Their approximate gross capacity is 20,000-30,000 animals - about 2-3% of total dog population and 5-10% of probable anual dog increase. No cats are finding their way in it at all. Some unregistered animals let free by the owners add to the noticeable overpopulation roaming the streets. A big part of the bred animals in a how-d'ye-do state of no registration check and dependable shelter add to an hidden overpopulation through ads for secondary adoption. That conditions are leading to the establishment of hurdless-free harvesting of great amount of pet animals, as a well-resource commodity. It is well known world wide, that Bulgaria supports the illegal, dirty industry of exploitation of the cats and dogs. On 18 December 2005 The Sunday Telegraph announced information about the industrial production in Bulgaria of furs of skinned alive pet animals, including German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers. Our crosscheck reference and findings are leading to the same conclusion. So we very seldom see abandoned grownups to find anew a suitable home. At the same time in Sofia there is no real official control over these animals - in spite of the predominance of thoroughbred dogs you could hardly find few in the Municipal shelter and no cats are finding their way in it at all. Despite of that, some form of collection and reduction, already exists - these animals do not stay in the streets and yards for a long time, there is no concentration of different generations of unwanted animals, the old, sick, starving and dead animals are rare in recent years. Thus throughout 2000-2003 in Sofia you may ran across many young Rottweilers, Siberian Husky and Central Asian Shepherds, while in 2006 they are rarity. In Sofia the activities of so called "nature-defenders" collecting grown up dogs with promises for their re-homing in Switzerland, has been also well known for years. In Sofia the practice of theft and poaching of animals is common. Dogs, lost by their owners are rarely returned. Out-going cats also frequently disappear. On the other hand there are numerous registered cases in The Sofia City’s dog-shelter, that the animals kept in it are also falling as a live-stock to the illicit traffic. In August 2004 BTV showed an article, demonstrating the total lack of control in the Municipal shelter in Sofia: an army officer gave to the shelter thirteen healthy army dogs, hoping to provide their re-homing. On the next day, asking for the situation with these animals, he was informed that they were "put down immediately, because of their pour health". Meanwhile the shelter was officially controlled by an animal protection group, as a mediator. In 1999/2000 in the same shelter there were disappearing two healthy dogs; also there was a video showing tens of sedated live dogs, big and healthy, being boarded in a truck and loaded to an unknown destination. Although long on the books, the National Veterinary Service, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance and Supreme Administrative Prosecutor have done nothing to restrict the black-market and movements of pet animals. In December 2003 and March 2004 we sent written suggestions to the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Finance (which controls the Financial Investigation Service) for construction of a program for restriction of the breeding and black-market of such animals. Ministers refused to take any concrete steps. |
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