READ THE FULL LETTER HERE

Source: Vier Pfoten – Bulgaria

After the success of last year’s campaign with the Sofia Municipality we are neutering the dogs in the Roma ghetto’s once again. As some of you know, we will be working with “the little Gypsies”  from the 08.05 to 22.06. We will treat between 500 and 600 animals (depending on the numbers in the field), brought by Ecobalance dog catchers and with the help of the local Roma leaders. We are very glad to be going back to these problematic areas and hope to drastically decrease the number of dumped puppies emerging from the Roma ghettos of Sofia.

The campaign has already began and going well. Unfortunately, the same as last year – the dogs are in a terrible condition. Now too we will keep the ones in need of medical assistance and send them back healthy and recovered to their owners.

One of the dogs we are keeping for treatment

It is absolutely shocking to see the quantity of parasites (internal and external) on these animals! At the moment we are using a generous donation of spot-on flea and tick treatments we had received for the shelter dogs, but we are using them up with great speed. Without any exaggeration – we are sweeping full rakes of ticks and fleas from their cages after treatment! Even our own doctors have been unpleasantly surprised to receive “visitors” of such a kind whilst operating…

We are concentrating on females, but will not skip any males

We don’t want to upset you , so we will not show you photos or stories of the intestinal parasites that literally crawl out of the dogs whilst under anesthetic. We will simply say: the parasite situation is out of control and the dogs are suffering greatly from it. Even if we somehow set aside the huge risk for the health of their owners – such an infestation can be brutal for a dogs health. Fortunately we do have a lot of internal parasite treatment medicines. We have quite the opposite situation with external parasites – we only have enough for about 300 animals.

We appeal to you: Please, help us purchase external parasite treatments for 200 dogs. The price of the treatment we are using now is approx. 1,6E per dog, approx.320E in total. These 320E will guarantee that the dogs we have processed in the shelter are returned home free of parasites at least for a couple of months. Such a treatment will help them recuperate after the surgery and gain strength and health. If you prefer – you could also donate flea&tick treatments to the shelter directly. We only ask you to keep in mind that we purchase medications at much better prices. You can DONATE here or directly at the shelter. Thank you!

D-r Stankova, keeper Miro and d-r Stoyanova at work

Up till the moment our vets d-r Stankova and d-r Stoyanova are doing a wonderful job. They are also receiving great help from two visiting veterinary surgeons from Utrecht, Holland who came to help out with the neutering of the Roma dogs.

We don’t remember if we’ve shared that with you before, but the Roma dogs are amazingly good and kind. As a population and as a whole – they are the best. Perhaps our fellow citizens from the minorities have zero tolerance for biting dogs. Or maybe they have experienced some drastic socialization “techniques” – we don’t know which. But it is a fact – the animals we get from Roma families and areas always have friendly and kind temperaments. And are in the worst possible physical condition. Sadly.

We are very glad to recieve and share with you the lovely letter from his new adoptive parents:

Hi there! Just three days ago we adopted the small dog-coyote Murphy  =) I thought it’s a good idea to tell what has been going on with us. First, I thought that we should give him a little time, so we can have more and better news to tell, but this thought failed, because he behaves as he has lived here with us forever.

When people adopt a doggie from a shelter, they usually say that it has chosen them. The truth is, that with us it was the other way around – we chose him, and there was no other way – 500 dogs and the biggest “muff” between them was noticeable from the entrance. =) In between all muzzles, paws lifted on the fences, jumping and lively howl, small Murphy was in the water container, moving his big ears and looking around, while the whole happy lively crowd was stepping on him, all jumping. He was just turning ears and eyes, wondering.

I am now thinking that back then he was just wondering whether there is any point of this whole uproar. All big dogs already know humans, and have understood that to come and take you home is wonderful. But they haven’t shared that with him, so he was skeptical. =)

The car had him as soon as we left. He showed his nose through thewindow and saw it was good. Then he showed the ears. =) I this that was the beginning of all. Then he accepted with the same enthusiasm the cats at home, the sleeping crate, the couch, the walks in the high grass, the good walking on a leash, the treats after that, the neighboring children, the dogs we met. And he proudly lifted a waving tail.

I can’t say how long, but the champion-dog learns, gets used to the world and fluffies per hour. As with us, I think this is the first love, escalating with such pace that we have met. If someone’s heart does not explode from so much love, then we would be fine in the long-term. =)

I hope I haven’t bored you, because I wrote so much, but there was no other way. These are all words of appreciation, actually. I would like to thank you for everything – for the help, for the warm welcome, for our hero doggie, for all your amazing dogs, for everything that you do.

My very best wishes and greetings from us!

Hi, my name is Mark and I live on the planet from 8-9 months. Together with my brother Tempo, in the beginning of this year we were living very poorly in the parking lot of a hypermarket. One day, a blue van of Ecobalance arrived – they were going to take us to get neutered, and we were still so young for this. This is when our guard angel came, in the face of a human, and prevented this to happen by taking us with her.

Ever since, I live in a hotel and they take perfect care of me there – I’m vaccinated, dewormed regularly, micro-chipped, neutered, and as a consequence I grew up wonderful and big, the size of a German shepherd dog. I’m very social, I love everybody, or to be even clearer – I love playing with everybody, I just adore going crazy playing with other dogs! My leash is very obedient, it walks perfectly with me. I have hygiene manners, and I even know a couple of commands. In other words – I’m DELIGHTFUL. Does anyone want to take me home?

We found this sad girl by accident. Her emaciated crippled body was so dramatic in a green field under clear blue skies… Like a confused little wolf, Anechka was running around and looking at us with disbelief and suspicion.

The hunt for Anechka took a long time, she wouldn’t let us near, biting any hand or leash that touched her, and even kicking as hard as she could when we finally caught her by the neck.

As it often happens – things got settled at the shelter. The moment she found out that we are not going to harm her, Anechka became a completely different, kind and cuddly dog.

We will never know what happened to her, we can only see into her future, not her past. She will recover at the Bogrov shelter and be neutered, but not returned. She will stay with us till she becomes a shiny, sparkling dog and then… who knows? Maybe a kind human heart will learn to love this kind, but sad girl.

As you know Animal Rescue Sofia has been working hard for years to create strong ties with the conscientious organizations working with stray animals in the country. The creating of an association uniting these organizations as a whole is an idea we have been developing since the summer of 2011. After a few meetings and discussions with colleagues we postponed the idea for 2012, but now it is obvious that the creating of such an Association is an emergency.

On the 11.05.2012 representatives of Animal Rescue Sofia, Vier Photen –Bulgaria and the German Spay/Neuter Centre joint forces and decided to establish the C.C. Association (the name will remain secret for now) – an organization to represent our common position before the authorities, media and public.

Without any underestimation to the hard works our colleagues in the country do – we decided it was best to start from Sofia. The reasons are strictly practical: we know each other well, we have worked together many times and we have proven we are people who can cooperate in a reasonable, well-organized way despite any personal differences. Last, but not least – the registration is easier when all the founding members are in one place.

Our goal is to unite the people who share the same principles and concepts:  adequate, sensible and most of all – professional. We hope that in time the Association will grow larger and include many organizations from all over the country – people whose work and experience we know and value, people whom we have great respect for. We believe that such an Association can become a really powerful instrument of influence in the hard times we are all facing as animal friends in Bulgaria.

We want to cordially thank the people who know our work, who trust us and count on us. It is your high opinion of us that gives us the strength and courage to fight despite the many difficulties. Our kindest regards to the colleagues who have worked and continue to work strenuously, adequately and in a civilized manner toward reaching our common goal!

We are posting this news somewhat in advance, because a message has reached us, published on Facebook by the “Grija i podslon za vseki” society from Ruse: that a national animal welfare NGO union should be created urgently.

We are flattered by the suggestion that representatives of Animal Rescue Sofia and Vier Pfoten – Bulgaria take part in the foundation of such a union. We greatly appreciate such a good evaluation of our efforts so far.

Nevertheless – even by simply reading the comments under this proposal we know very well that we don’t belong there.
This will not come as a surprise to the people who are involved in the animal welfare NGO’s intrigues, but for the ones who don’t, we need to say a few words:

There have been continuous and ongoing efforts to ruin our image – people who claim to be animal welfare activists spend their time insinuating about us – horrible lies that would have made us very rich if we had the time to take them to court. It is such a shame and waste of time – we have to defend ourselves against such “colleagues” who make more problems than any dog-hating government administration. We continue to be shocked by the ugly slander and outrageous insults we see about ourselves.

Sadly – we know too well: we are not at all welcome in this “group”. But fortunately we have made and keep up strong contacts with reputable organizations, we do have colleagues to go forward with.

ЕDIT 4:15 pm
Dear friends,
the funds for Zhelyo have been raised!
He will receive blood from a fellow shelter dog.
We will keep you informed about his condition.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE AGAIN!

Has Zhelyo been lucky? He is one of those small dogs that we would call a “poodle” – small, hairy, kind. He has lived maybe 8-9 years, probably chained in someone’s yard.

By accident or in a twist of his destiny – Zhelyo ran onto the road and was hit by a car right infront of our kind-heated colleague Svetlio Petrov who rushed him to the Central Veterinary Clinic. The little ragdoll did his best to act like a man and even waved his little tail a couple of times when he wasn’t suffocating.

Unfortunately Zhelyo is feeling very bad and needs immediate medical attention. He needs to get an oxygen treatment, he needs to have the fluids removed from his stomach, he needs to get a blood transfusion, he needs to be monitered for his internal trauma…

All that costs money. And Zhelyo isn’t rich. He doesn’t even have a medical insurance. He is just a dying little ragdoll who doesn’t even have the strenght to ask for help.

So we will ask for him. Please, help Zhelyo! He is a good guy who wants to live and can be rehomed quite qhickly if he is healthy and clean.

Zhelyo’s treatment costs 300BGN (150E) – if every one of us pitches in with a small sume – he will be saved. Help him by DONATING by bank, PayPal or at the clinic.

Thank you for not closing your eyes!

Time went by and Bella’s wounds began to heal as she began understanding that people are not all bad. Such a young little puppy (only 4 months old) she couldn’t stay scared for too long and began accepting all the love the volunteers put in her. Bella began to understand what the human-dog friendship is all about…

Bella hadn’t yet quite healed when she met Teodora. Todora hadn’t come to the shelter thinking to adopt Bella, but since the little white angel was separated in the storage room so she can be in peace, she was the first dog that came accross Tedi. And that was it – LOVE at first sight.

How sweet it is to be loved by you!

You can see what kind of life Bella will be enjoying from now on – who could ask for more!?

Congratulations to Evelina Georgieva and her family for adopting our sweet guy Labcho!

The good boy was found wandering a while ago – looking well and healthy, so we naturally thought he was simply lost. We started to look for “lost lab” adds and were very surprised to find “Giving away a lab, urgent!” adds instead. As the time went by it became aparrent that Labcho is not missed by anyone – he is simply dumped. Lucky for him, because he now has a family that will never leavie him!!!

The new Sofia program

After more than a years’ delay Sofia Municipal Council finally voted the new Program to control the stray dog population. As the program before it, this one is based on the Spay/Neuter&Return method. You can see the prematurely published text in Bulgarian HERE.

The program begins with an analysis on the current situation and alludes the problem to the lack of control over owned dogs, low registration numbers, dumping of animals and their pups and so on. It is quite funny that the analysis also says that NGO’s are to blame, because they are obstructing the work of the Municipal company Ecobalance.  Also, the analysis states the Ecobalance employees lack in numbers and expertise; there is no national dog registry; too few shelters; lack of coordination between the parties involved and so on. It even points out that a National Strategy is necessary to really address the problem.

The program states it aims at lowering the stray dogs number by -95% by the end of 2016. Sofia Municipality plans to achieve this by:

•           Working with private clinics for Spay/Neuter;
•           Providing Spay/Neuter materials to NGO Spay/Neuter centers;
•           Rising the numbers of dog-catching teams at Ecobalance;
•           Neutering owned animals along with the homeless;
•           Creating a local database for the dogs microchipped;
•           Euthanizing aggressive dogs and so on.

All those measures make a lot of sense, but can raise a lot of questions conserving the non-transparent work and lack of access for public control/

There is a point in the program itself that states Sofia Municipality will be suggesting changes in the Laws and legislation concerning the matter.

There is also a very disputable paragraph on the fact that a person or a company will not be allowed to adopt more than 2 animals.

Leaving aside the paragraphs specially included isolating the public sector – the program makes much sense. We are very glad that it finally includes spay/neuter of owned dogs. There are even some words suggesting that there will be educational and informational campaigns in schools and the media. The plan is to neuter dogs neighborhood by neighborhood, not like it is at the moment.

The only question is – after all said and done – do the civil servants have a will to solve the problem and most of all – do they understand the principles of the Spay/Neuter&Return method, suggested by the World Health Organization.

The absurdities continue

Meanwhile the parliamentary Committee  for Regional Self-Governance has accepted the absurd proposals for the change of the Animal Protection Act made by far-right nationalist party “Ataka” (in Bulgarian – HERE).  Their decision was based on a standpoint filed in by the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods. Unfortunately the Committee agreed on the following totally inadequate resolution:

•           Allowing people to destroy dogs in self-defense (?)
•           Dropping of the Spay/Neuter&Return method by deleting the text “and return” from the Animal Protection Act and collecting of all the animals in non-existent shelters (???)

This is extremely alarming, but fortunately the leading Committee is the Agricultural one. It lies ahead to see what the Authorities are planning (if at all) for yet another time.

See the statement by the Ministry of agriculture HERE (Bulgarian only).

Being stunned, it is still fair to say that the document was signed by a deputy-minister and bears the date of 19.04 – one day before the NGO’s protest and the meeting with the Prime Minister. Hopefully this is yet another insane inadvertence, because otherwise we will have to believe that we have been purposely being lied to for a whole month by authorities. All this is still to be cleared out. We will keep you informed.