The "Animal problem" in Bulgaria

  Animals - barking, meowing, purring or hissing... 

  They have always been our friends. We have used them in hunting, farming, for saving human lives and as our pets. They deserve our respect and love. And here comes the Big Problem. In my country throwing animals away is becoming more frequent. And by "throwing" I mean literally throwing them in trashbins. People are even bragging with that. Sounds crazy, right? Maybe even impossible. Yes, but that's a fact. It's sad. We live in a modern world, and a lot of our people are capable of doing such cruel things.

  There are many cases of animal abuse. Most of them happen when the animals are having their babies, in the spring season. People throw them in trashbins, as I said earlier, or ger rid of them by leaving them near rivers or forests where other bigger animals can eat them. Other example of violence is poisoning them with antifreeze. 

  Another scary practice is running over animals by cars and other vehicles. I will tell you a personal story. My cat and dog got hit by cars two monts ago, one day apart. They lived in a village house with a big garden but they managed to escape and we looked for them that day. They weren't anywhere close. 

  I had birthday that day so I had to return to my guests. I decided to look out for them later that day, and I did so but I couldn't find them. On the next morning, my dog was waiting for me in the garden, but the cat wasn't there. I went out with two of my friends to look for her, and exactly in front of the house we saw a bloody trace of a car tire. It didn't come to my mind it could be my cat. So I thought there was a fight (common thing here, sadly)  last night. 

  That day I had to return to the city where I go to school so I told my grandpa to let me know if the car returns. The day passed by and another came. I called my grandpa to see what happened. He didn't tell me anything. Later, my friend called me and told me that my dog was hit that moring. Also he told me that the cat was hit too, one day before the dog. 

  When I went back to my village in front of the house I saw second bloody trace. It all made sense. Both animals died the same was. I have fault, too, because I didn't find where they escaped from. But does it mean that they had to find their deaths that way. In what country I am living?! And the house is on the main road, in front of a kinder garden. This could've been children. We also asked the mayor of the village to see the camera recordigs. He refused to take responsibility. He said it's too much work for him. And again, in that country I am living.

  We also have zoo police, which doesn't do any of their work. It's more like a formal institution. There are many cases where people have called them and nobody picked up the phone.

  There are many other cases of animal abuse, of killing these innocent creatures but I'm not going to tell more right now. Even if it looks bad many people -like me- are trying hard to help. We have many unofficial organisations, Facebook groups and communities that are giving their best to prevent the violence. You can also adopt an animal from Bulgaria, even if you live in other contry.

  And remember, animals are our friends, not toys that we can kill.

  If you're interested in adopting animals from Bulgaria, you can text me on Instagram (@oof.elie)

-Elitsa Lilova

Thrown kittens, this month