Tell Bulgaria: The indiscriminate slaughter of stray animals is genocide and fascism in its purest form

For decades all lost, abandoned and stray dogs and cats in Bulgaria have been subject to horrific abuse and mass extermination by the State and its institutions.

Barb wired death camps, called "isolators", especially designed for mass murder, have been operational all over the country, where millions of innocent, defenseless souls have perished in most despicable, cruel ways, tortured and killed by sadists and perverts, employed by the State. While the death machine pounding, the State propaganda has been engaged in "rationalization of murder" and disengagement of the moral standards of society by portraying such inhumane behavior toward sentient beings as socially acceptable and even desirable, by degrading and dehumanizing homeless animals, portraying them as vicious, dangerous beasts praying on humans. Moreover under such conditions of low moral standards and displaced responsibility, bloodthirsty morons, vigilantes and "concerned citizens", have been engaging systematically in animal "hunts" and various barbaric acts of animal torture and abuse, portrayed by the media as "solving the problem".

There was hope in 2007, when as a result of numerous petitions and complaints by Bulgarian citizens and NGOs regarding the serious welfare problems of stray animals, the European Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals wrote to the Bulgarian authorities, reminding them that Bulgaria has ratified the European Council's Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals which makes it a binding obligation to take measures in this field. The Intergroup expressed hopes that the Bulgarian institutions would engage in the legislative process by voting and enacting effective measures to solve the problems of stray animals without recurring to a simple "catch and kill policy", which has proven to be completely ineffective and which is moreover unacceptable on moral and ethical grounds. As a consequence in 2008 the Animal Welfare Act was passed in Parliament, according to which TNR /trap, neuter and return/ programs were to be carried out for the humane solution of the stray animal overpopulation problem.

Sadly, in a country eaten by corruption, populism and greed, hatred prevailed. The Government, accustomed to solving all political, economic and social problems by murder, not only failed to enforce the Act but actively sabotaged it. The killings continued while the State institutions did all they could to destroy whatever evidence and records existed as to the numbers they knew they had murdered.

And it got worse. Irritated by the fact that not only the morality but the legality of their actions was constantly challenged by various animal welfare and animal rights organizations, the State decided to fight back. On the 4th of April 2012, the Minister of Agriculture - Miroslav Naydenov officially announced that following orders by the Prime minister - Bojko Borisov, he would start a legislative initiative to change back the Animal Welfare Act and Ordinance 41, and thus legalize again the indiscriminate, mass slaughter of stray dogs and cats. Moreover he promised he would make all necessary legal changes as to completely cut out the NGOs and animal rights activists from the decision making process and curtail their rights to inspect, challenge and control State institutions and their activities.

This is truly disgusting, unlawful and unacceptable in the 21st century in a country member of the EU, pretending to be civilized. This truly is genocide and fascism in its purest form.