Hi

I have recently read that as Bulgaria have joined the EU that there are plans to ban the keeping of livestock within village boundaries.
I find this a little gobsmacking as surely part of Bulgaria life itself is to keep a few chickens, a couple of goats and sheep as a means of being partially self sufficient.

Does anyone know of any regulations as invariably if the ban is to take place then this will have an impact to potential properties that we would want to view when we come over in March.

Mr Eq

I asked a neighbour about this when i saw it, he said its just they should be in your land , not meandering around the road in the village, he has a couple of rottweilers and said he must build another fence as under a new law animals cant go within 1m of your garden wall ( i think it was a meter )

I can see the point a bit about wandering animals , the number of unattended cows wandering round in September was interesting to say the least, I cant see a problem with them wandering round in some places but when you go round a bend and find a bull on the main road....we only just missed the skidding transit van coming the other way as the bull ran out and attacked the van

Then the donkeys....Regularly i have a donkey eating my garden wall , trying to eat the tiles off the top of it!, the man down the road thinks its the best place to keep it as it cant damage his wall , I cant walk down that bit of road , nor can anyone else as it seems to be a foaming at the mouth guard donkey on a chain long enough to go from one side to the other, he could have it in his garden or at least outside his house , i didnt complain about it though as apparently he has been keeping his donkeys there for years, he was there first.

Many thanks will666

We are not intending to keep a huge menagerie, just the few to keep us going with eggs, milk,but don't want to set our hearts on a place when we visit for a recki in March only to find there are restrictions of keeping of livestock.

I think how strictly its imposedwill be down to your major. ours thinks its rediculous n theres animals free ranging all over the village. They have no intention of compling at all unless the police are going to come round and start fining. So I guess well have to wait n see. Personnally I'd like a few less free ranging stallions as they cause havok near my mares.

The law is already in place but interpreted differently in different places! In our village animals are not allowed to roam in the street so the ladies are not seen shepherding their hens while sitting on a bench chatting. Animals are allowed on your property but not for commercial use so our neighbour, who had about 200 goats, has had to move them out. I miss seeing them going off to the hills on a daily basis. The goats privately owned do go to the hills and are met on the outskirts of the village by the shepherd and its nice to see them waiting for their owners to collect them on their return.
Dogs do occasionally roam around free when particularly in the mating season, but if they are no problem its allowed but if they kill a chicken or cause any trouble at all they are shot. Dogs are allowed to be walked on a lead or under your control so dog walking is not a problem.
I miss animals around although you can still see our cowman walking his cow!!!

oldun wrote:

The law is already in place but interpreted differently in different places! In our village animals are not allowed to roam in the street so the ladies are not seen shepherding their hens while sitting on a bench chatting. Animals are allowed on your property but not for commercial use so our neighbour, who had about 200 goats, has had to move them out. I miss seeing them going off to the hills on a daily basis. The goats privately owned do go to the hills and are met on the outskirts of the village by the shepherd and its nice to see them waiting for their owners to collect them on their return.
Dogs do occasionally roam around free when particularly in the mating season, but if they are no problem its allowed but if they kill a chicken or cause any trouble at all they are shot. Dogs are allowed to be walked on a lead or under your control so dog walking is not a problem.
I miss animals around although you can still see our cowman walking his cow!!!

As other forum members have said, a lot of it is down to the mayor of your village and also villagers interpretation of the law. Our villagers are happy to see goats wandering around with the goat women tending them, albeit they eat everything in sight on the excursion from their barn. We often see goats climbing on our wall and munching whatever comes into contact with their mouths. The farmer tends his cows but they have a habit of wandering all over the place and onto the road, but it is every drivers responsibility to drive with some perspective of where they are and to be careful. We also have sheep that walk the lanes and fields, but they are also tended by a shepherd.

At the end of the day if people wish to live in a village they must respect the way of life and not try to change things, if they don't like the way a village operates then they shouldn't be there in the first place. For us Brits living here, this isn't the UK and it never will be, we didn't come to live here expecting it to be like the UK. Bulgaria has it's own charm and I believe the majority of us respect their culture and their traditions and if we see animals wandering freely around villages accept that as the status quo.

The original question was about the law and that says that animals must not roam. I doubt any English will wish to disobey this and will keep their animals within boundaries. It really hasn't changed village life much and its more a question of road safety and keeping commercial meat products from contamination as stipulated by the EU of course but understandable. Chickens will certainly have a better life in the commercial area due to regualtions although it has put up the price of chicken and eggs. You can always make your own choices by buying locally or in a bazaar where laws are there to be abused in typical Bulgarian style. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

At the end of the day if people wish to live in a village they must respect the way of life and not try to change things, if they don't like the way a village operates then they shouldn't be there in the first place. For us Brits living here, this isn't the UK and it never will be, we didn't come to live here expecting it to be like the UK. Bulgaria has it's own charm and I believe the majority of us respect their culture and their traditions and if we see animals wandering freely around villages accept that as the status quo.

Totally agree Itchyfeet - it is most certainly not our intention to move to Bulgaria to live as in the UK which is exactly why the question was asked regarding livestock. As stated from the start of our involvement to this forum we want to escape the rat race in the UK and live as near a self-sufficient lifestyle as possible, hence the need for some livestock.

Utlimately we do not want want to move to an area to only find we either offending resident Bulgarians or worse still find that we are breaking the law, with us pooling all our resources into this move we would not be in a position to move again after finding that our lifestyle that we are aiming for was restricted due to incorrect location hence the question and ongoing research.

Many thanks to everyone to date who have helped with answering our barrage of questions since we joined this excellant forum.

Totally agree Itchyfeet - it is most certainly not our intention to move to Bulgaria to live as in the UK which is exactly why the question was asked regarding livestock. As stated from the start of our involvement to this forum we want to escape the rat race in the UK and live as near a self-sufficient lifestyle as possible, hence the need for some livestock.

Utlimately we do not want want to move to an area to only find we either offending resident Bulgarians or worse still find that we are breaking the law, with us pooling all our resources into this move we would not be in a position to move again after finding that our lifestyle that we are aiming for was restricted due to incorrect location hence the question and ongoing research.

Many thanks to everyone to date who have helped with answering our barrage of questions since we joined this excellant forum.[/quote]


Good luck with everything Equinus - I am not too sure what veterinary practices stock here in the range of horse medicines and such like. It would be a good idea if you are bringing a horse or two to pack some wormers and bring them over, I can't imagine many pony, horse, donkey or mule owners using wormers, although most of the equines here look in fine condition.