Dear Mr. President, Prime Minister, Secretary, Madam, Sir, to Whom it Concerns:

After watching the TV 7 news footage “Disgruntled inhabitants of the village Selcha want a new Doctor” (http://bulgaria.tv7.bg/news/9670202.html) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnRYYxzaro), we, the undersigned, are absolutely outraged to learn of the barbaric crimes against animals in Bulgaria that go unpunished.

Not only is it socially acceptable in Bulgaria for this Lynch Mob to trespass onto Doctor Litov’s property and brutally beat his disabled family dog publicly, in full view of TV cameras, the Police are not even interested in prosecuting the perpetrators, refusing to attend the property when called.

This Lynch Mob and the media staged this shameful act in order to force Dr. Litov out of his home and work, only because he is helping the strays in the village, where there is no vet and no shelter. The news article in no way criticized the mob for their actions, they only blamed Dr Litov for helping strays as every humane and ethically developed person should do!

I, the undersigned, require the Bulgarian Authorities to uphold the law by:

1. Ensuring Dr. Litov, his family and his animals are left in peace. Having pets is not a crime. In fact, Dr Litov does the municipality’s job by rescuing and treating the strays in the region.

2. Not only is it socially acceptable in Bulgaria for this lynch mob to trespass onto Doctor Litov’s private property and brutally beat his disabled family dog publicly, in full view of TV cameras, the police are not even interested in prosecuting the perpetrators, refusing to attend the property when called.

The Bulgarian Journalists are the main instigators of the so-called "War against the Stray Dogs" this is the exact term they use in their TV shows and articles. They are the ones who encourage the barbaric primitive acts on the defenceless stray animals and should also be held accountable for their despicable actions.

Providing strict guidelines for the out of control media. The media should not incite hatred towards the stray animals and the animal lovers as they are currently doing. This is stipulated in the Animal Protection Act and the media's brutal anti-animal and anti-animal-lovers ongoing campaign should be prosecuted.

3. Prosecution for the savage man, who publicly beat with a baseball bat Dr Litov’s family disabled dog, Borko.

I further ask the Government of Bulgaria, how can this be, in the 21st Century, that a member state of the European Union does not prosecute crimes against animals?

Bulgaria has a very good, modern Animal Welfare Law (APA 2008) that forbids inhumane handling of animals and places strays under special protection. On 14 April 2011, Bulgarian Parliament passed an amendment in the Penal Code, which criminalizes Extreme Cruelty to Animals. That came onto force on 27 July, 2011. So, what is the problem then?

The problem is that Bulgaria has no enforcement body to implement the new law and therefore change cannot take place. Bulgaria has no legitimate Zoo police with powers and Bulgarian police officers do not want to bother to investigate and take animal abusers to justice. Since 27 July 2011 we witnessed a number of extreme animal cruelty cases in Bulgaria and no criminal was caught and punished with jail term, or even with a fine. Our complaints go unnoticed and in some cases we've been told to “shut up or else”.

Bulgarian animals live and die in agony! Criminals never get investigated and punished! In most cases Police laugh it off or simply do not accept their duty to protect animals.

The link between animal abuse and crimes against humans has been well documented over several decades. Many studies in psychology, sociology, and criminology during the last 25 years have demonstrated that violent offenders frequently have histories of serious and repeated animal cruelty.

Given it is proven that people who can commit crimes against animals rarely stop there and that they are very likely to harm other humans, especially children or other vulnerable people, we are calling upon the Government of Bulgaria to criminalize and prosecute ALL Acts of animal abuse.

It is time for Bulgaria to step into the 21st century and take a stand against abusers, of all kinds.

Marian Giesbers

Stekkenberg 114

6561XN Groesbeek

the Netherlands

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