[size=75:317sbiqy]Sofia echo 12 April 2010

Bark and bite

The three-year grace period for Bulgarian municipalities to deal with the problem of stray dogs is coming to an end with only a few of the country’s larger local authorities having achieved anything.

Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov, speaking on Pro.Bg television on April 7, said that mayors had been given three years to come up with their own programmes to deal with the ever-worsening problem of stray dogs, but little had been done.

During this grace period, which ends in 2010, mayors were asked to put forward not just a strategy for coping with the issue but also to open castration centres or dispensaries.

"
What emerged is that, with the exception of some of the big municipalities, most others have no programme for dealing with the problem of stray dogs, neither do they have castration centres, nor, in fact, are they doing anything at all,"
Naidenov told Pro.Bg.

Because of the lack of progress, Naidenov has ordered checks that will evaluate each mayor’s progress in launching and running programmes to reduce the number of stray dogs on the streets.

By the end of 2010, these programmes and the subsequent shelters and castration centres should have been up and running and producing results.

Under the Animal Protection Act, which came into effect on January 31 2008, by 2011 there should be no stray dogs left, and any municipality that still has stray dogs after that date would risk being fined, Naidenov said.

He said that time had been lost, and as the months passed, dogs had kept on breeding, with new generations migrating from smaller settlements to cities nearby where food was easier to get.

In turn, this meant that if smaller municipalities did not take steps against the stray dog problem, any achievements by larger cities would come to nothing as dogs migrated there.
Of the four large cities, Sofia has been sharply criticised for failing against the street dog problem, with regular media reports of vicious packs of stray dogs attacking pedestrians.

Naidenov has a lot of experience dealing with the issue, given that he used to head Sofia’s Ekoravnovesie company, which deals with stray dogs. He had this position for three years before becoming Agriculture Minister in August 2009. When The Sofia Echo interviewed Naidenov in 2006 about his plans to reduce the number of stray dogs, he said that all dogs would be castrated, vaccinated, marked and registered and returned to their original place of capture.

"
Killing dogs is the very last solution and it will be applied only to dogs who are beyond healing, too aggressive or too old to survive on the streets,"
Naidenov said in 2006 when Sofia had just one facility for stray dogs, the pound in Seslavtsi village.

Three years later, in January 2009, Naidenov said that Sofia city hall would build one or two shelters (in addition to the one at Seslavtsi) by the end of 2009, which would allow a gradual withdrawal of the animals from the streets until, by 2011, they were entirely "
cleaned up"
. This means that in terms of municipal facilities, the situation in Sofia had not changed for the past three years.

Still, Naidenov said that the stray dog population in Sofia was under control with no possible increase of the numbers and that with the additional shelters built, the Sofia streets would be cleared of stray dogs by 2011. Now, a year later, Naidenov has identified small municipalities as the main reason why big cities such as Sofia cannot handle the stray dog problem.

Just like to say as far as local mayers go ours is great,stray dogs in our village virtually nil,praise to him



Mike

Wish the same could be said for the Mayor of Yambol.

Still loads of strays although many are tagged.

Tony

very few where we are, one became a regular because a neighbour started to feed it, but would not take it in as his own. then became a pest, barking night and day, chasing cars and going for people. it suddenly disappeared. once you start feeding the strays you are committed, what started as a favour to this dog ended in its demise. it was one of the hardest things i ever learnt here, leave alone or take on the responsibility, this neighbour made the wrong choice and did it no favours. sad but true.

We have no strays as such. But what we do have, are seasonal dogs.The dogs have owners in the spring, summer and most of the autumn. when winter comes they are then let out to fend for themselves.The owners go to Varna so they can stay warm .Then come back in the spring and take over the dog again. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]