Bulgarian Cruelty

Bulgaria is a small Balkan state situated in South-Eastern Europe which prides itself on offering its visitors the opportunity to admire one of the most picturesque scenery's in the world and discover the long history of one of the oldest states in Europe. The country which recently embraced democracy (after being under Communist rule for a period of 45 years), however, has neglected its natural wealth.

The transition to a market economy has meant that most importance had to be placed on restructuring the Bulgarian economy, with most social functions being given a very low priority.

The state of animal welfare in the country is appalling and causes problems to many local authorities in Bulgaria as well as disturbance and concern to foreign visitors who come to enjoy their holidays in Bulgaria. The extremely large number of animals that are living on the streets, being neglected and abused, not only creates a negative image of Bulgaria to the rest of the world but also poses a serious health risk to both the well-being of humans and other pets in the country.

Under the former system (the Communist system) which ruled in Bulgaria until 1989, people did not realise pain and suffering, damaging nature and killing animals. Animals were considered inanimate objects unable to feel, think and without intelligence.

People kept many pets in their homend many of which were not looked after properly by their owners due to peoples' negative attitudes towards animals in general.

The demise of Communism brought sweeping changes to Bulgaria and with the advent of the market economy structure, many Bulgarians saw their living standards constantly declining (according to the unofficial statistics about 80% of all Bulgarians live under the subsistence living standard at present). As a result thereof, a large number of pets were 'thrown out' on the street as their owners were no longer able to afford their own upkeep, let alone the upkeep of their pets.

The increase in the number of stray animals on the streets (having being disposed of just as people dispose of their unwanted Christmas presents), who were living as Outcasts combined with peoples' indifference and ignorance contributed to an even further increase in the number of strays due to the fact that the large majority of pets which had lost their 'loving' homes were not spayed and neutered. The capital of Bulgaria, Sofia as well as a number of other cities in Bulgaria saw an 'explosion' in the number of stray dogs and cats and soon people started to see more and more little puppies on the streets (which they thought were very cute but declined to feed or shelter them).

The problems of stray animals was further exacerbated by the fact that efforts by the BADL to spay and neuter homeless dogs and cats and euthanize only those animals that were posing a considerable risk to the health of not only other stray animals but also humans (and were suffering beyond belief) were not only ignored but also met strong public opposition.