Incumbent Mayor Vows to Rid Sofia of Half of Stray Dogs in 2 Years

Yordanka Fandakova, Sofia's incumbent Mayor runner, has promised to cut down in half the number of stray dogs in the Bulgarian capital the next two years is she gets reelected.

"The stray dogs are the capital's most difficult issue," Fandakova admitted Wednesday, as cited by the Focus news agency. According to her, the stray dog problem concerns the citizens' health, as well as the implementation of European practices.

A new neutering and shelter center is currently built in Sofia's Mladost district, as well as a large dog shelter in the Kremikovtsi district, the Mayor pointed out.

Fandakova further reminded that has released from his duties the manager of the municipal Ecobalance company over findings of faulty execution of work related to stray dogs.

There are about 10 000 officially registered stray dogs in Sofia. Some 70 000 dogs have been registered wandering the streets of Bulgaria as a whole.

An average of 800-900 cases of tapeworm infection are registered in Bulgaria each year. This number constitutes as much as 54% of the total instances per year in the whole EU.

Fandakova, whose two-year term as Sofia Mayor has been marked by intensified construction of the Sofia Metro and other infrastructure projects, has been criticized on the stray dogs issue, as well as her administration inefficient work on garbage collecting.

Fandakova was officially nominated by Bulgaria's ruling party, center-right GERB, as its candidate for Sofia Mayor in the October 23 local elections.