For many years, I have worked together with the entire environmental protection community to adopt a stricter regulatory act for stray animals. More than 10 years ago, we had presentations before the European Parliament related to the conditions under which municipalities build animal shelters. We are faced with institutional violence, and the control bodies are often inactive or even participate in these processes. Therefore, there was a huge need for a legal framework at the European Union level, which would be absolutely mandatory for all member states. The reality continues to be cruel, because back in 2008, an Animal Protection Act was adopted in Bulgaria, which is practically at the European level. Unfortunately, however, not a single article, not a single paragraph of this law is actually implemented. This is happening even by municipal and state authorities. This was announced to Lili Marinkova in the studio “FACTS“ and the program “Conversation“ by Marta Georgieva, municipal councilor in Sofia from the PP-DB.
“The problem is that animals do not speak. They cannot protect themselves. They are the easiest to steal from because they cannot say what is happening. There is also a serious misunderstanding of the problem of stray animals. Everything that is done for the good of animals is also done for the good of people. These are two things that cannot be distinguished. Statistical studies show that 70% of citizens of the European Union are interested in the protection of animals and want it to be stronger. That is, all this is not done only for the animals as such, but also for people“, added the guest.
“The illegal trade in dogs and cats from Central and Eastern Europe brings profits, even greater than those from drug trafficking, and is associated with enormous suffering. European institutions were also alerted because such illegal trade is dangerous for human health. There is no traceability. Animals travel with irregular documents, without real control. This endangers both the animals themselves and people. I always give the example of the dog Raya, who was saved by Jean-Claude Van Damme, because our authorities are negligent. This is a Bulgarian dog, brought from Bulgaria, and in Norway they found that it had irregular health documents. According to the local law for the safety of people, the animal should have been euthanized. Then Jean-Claude Van Damme launched a campaign on social media and managed to save the life of this puppy, who was not at all guilty of our authorities being negligent“, said Marta Georgieva.
See more of the conversation in the VIDEO.