In Bulgaria, the ZooPolice opens the way to a wake-up call regarding the Link
One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.
Across Europe initiatives are emerging. In Bulgaria, a journalist from the country tells us about the ZooPolice’s contribution to the benefit of animals and the realisation of the importance of the Link.
In
Bulgaria, in recent years, things are going in the right direction,
thanks to the “ZooPolice”, a police against animal abuse.
This is really a good thing because people now understand that acts
of violence against animals can have very bad consequences for their
perpetrators.
The
“ZooPolice” investigates animal abuse or the killing of
animals, but may also remove dogs and other animals from their owners
when they are not properly caring for them. Animal abuse, however,
remains widespread, and we hear about it almost every day. It
unfortunately exists in every village, because there are guard dogs
very often kept in chains. For the villagers, animals are only used
for work.
In
the shelters, the animals’ living conditions are also very bad.
«In the capital, I can say that the situation is satisfactory, the program for reducing the population of stray dogs is progressing well. The dogs that we meet in the streets of Sofia are old, and they are castrated. However, elsewhere in the country, this population is not controlled.»Karina Karanjotova, journalist for БНТ, the Bulgarian national TV
Another
problem is that anyone here can create an illegal kennel. Regarding
the link between animal abuse and human abuse, this topic is not very
popular here and the media do not talk about it very much. In recent
months, Bulgarian television has broadcast investigations on animal
abuse, problems with shelters, illegal kennels and suffering animals,
so now people are really beginning to understand that they cannot do
anything they want with their pets and that society is now watching.