A protest against raising calves in cages took place in front of the National Assembly building. A petition signed by over 150,000 people will be submitted to the parliament.
Some of the protesters are “locked“ in symbolic cages, the aim of which is to show how much space an animal raised in such conditions has. The demonstrators wear T-shirts with the inscriptions “Invisible Animals“ and hold pictures of calves.
This is a cruel practice that occurs on dairy farms in Bulgaria, the calf is immediately torn from its mother and put in such an isolation cage, it does not move from it in the first months of its life. The size of the cage is such that it can only turn around and lie down. Not only animal protection organizations, but also the largest organizations in the industry sector stand behind this cause, said the chairman of the board of “Invisible Animals“ Stefan Dimitrov.
“Calves are a highly social species, they walk almost immediately and as such they need to run, jump, play with each other. Instead, they spend their childhood behind iron bars or in a concrete cell“, explained Dimitrov. He was categorical that this is cruelty that has no place in the 21st century. According to him, Bulgarians want progress, as evidence of this is the fact that a petition with over 110 thousand signatures was submitted to the previous National Assembly demanding that this cruel practice be stopped.
The chairman of the board of “Invisible Animals“ recalled that then in the committee the MPs unanimously supported the request, but the parliamentary time was not enough to adopt the necessary legislative changes. “Now this petition has 150 thousand signatures and our expectation for the new National Assembly is that it will finish what it started, because behind this request we unite not only animal protection organizations, but also some of the largest and most representative breeding and industry organizations, consumer organizations, veterinarians and specialists“, he added.
Dimitrov specified that over the years he has talked with the owners of dozens of medium and large Bulgarian cow farms, which have removed the calf cages and switched to a modern, humane way of raising. “And the farmers themselves tell me - the calves are really healthier, they develop better, they feel better, there is less work for the farmer and ultimately better results“, shared the chairman of “Invisible Animals“.
Asked which European countries have stopped raising in cages, he pointed out that this is a trend that is actually going on all over the world. “Such legislation is even currently being discussed at the European Union (EU) level. This is also a recommendation from the European Food Safety Authority. In practice, this is the direction in which things are going in all member states, and Bulgaria is in an extremely good position to take this step, because only half of the dairy calves in Bulgaria are currently raised in cages, and the oil calves are not raised in cages at all, which actually puts us a big lead over most European countries“, Dimitrov also said.
Stefan Dimitrov also explained why they are holding the protest with people in cages: “We chose to arrange cages in front of the National Assembly with one person inside, in order to show in practice how a part of the calves in Bulgaria are raised and in what conditions. This is trying to resemble it. These are symbolic cages, but the truth is that these supporters here, volunteers who support the cause, will spend only a few hours in these cages, while the calves in Bulgaria, which are raised in cages, do not come out of these cages for months.“