Inspectors from the Central Directorate of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency and from the regional directorates in Pazardzhik, Kardzhali and Lovech identified a total of 321 "virtual" animals in the Smolyan municipalities of Devin and Chepelare. The animals were not found at the sites, but were registered in the VetIS information system and the farmers received subsidies for them. Together with employees of the State Fund "Agriculture", ten farms in the town of Chepelare and the villages of Trigrad, Kesten, Malevo and Pavelsko were inspected.
A total of 178 cattle, which were listed in documents, "disappeared" from two farms - in Chepelare and Pavelsko. However, 106 unregistered animals and four registered from another site were found in the same sites. 15 cattle are missing from the two farms in Malevo.
In one of the sites in Trigrad, instead of the registered 14 horses, only one was found, and 14 cattle are missing. Only 8 of the registered 48 sheep were found in farms of the same owner in Kesten. 5 horses and all 20 registered cattle also "disappeared" from there. 15 horses and 7 cattle were missing from another site in the same village. 3 sheep and 11 cattle were found missing from an additional farm in the village of Trigrad.
The inspections also found a number of violations in identification – lack of ear tags, markings from other farms or multiple animals registered with the same number.
The data in VetIS will be updated immediately, and all violators will be issued with administrative violation notices.