good let them attack the kids and old people its the bulgarians fault that they are on the street....in fact i think some of the very old people are also an eye sore in the villages can't poison them too...only yesterday i saw this very old lady walking like a zombie in the middle of the road..i was waiting for a car to come speeding down the road as they do and see what happend lol most bulgarians are backward and like cavemen sometimes.

TOTAL LACK OF LOW-COST NEUTERING SCHEMES! In fact, in BG it is unknown approach to to reduce population dynamics. In recent years sterilization cost even tend to increase.

TOTAL LACK OF HUMANE EDUCATION! It remains unknown approach do discourage pet breeding and encourage pet neutering.

In this situation, mafia successfully collect 98 per cent of unwanted, second-hand and lost pets. So two per cent of pet overpopulation stayed under legal control run by Dai Lapa and all similar organizations.

The problem of dumping and abandoning dogs has been happening well before the financial crisis, so I am not really buying that as an excuse.

There are actually many vets who do offer reduced fees for spay/neuter to try to help people and dogs. That being said, if you have a dog and cannot afford to spay or neuter it, chances are you will not be able to afford it as the dog grows older. Therefore people should think very carefully about whether a pet is right for them in the first place. It's not cheap [...]

Read the full comment to own a dog, and they require life long care.

Stop talking and take action destroy the lot and then fine people or send them to prison for abandoning there dogs.

damn, i almost forgot how perfect the US are, thank for reminding me.

p.s. who caused the crisis?

bla bla bla will not take the dogs from the streets.

bravo for the people here copying other peoples ideas here.
What to expect if everyone knows about the problem but all they do is think of an excuse for not doing a thing about it?

The 'do gooders' don't take into account that with this recession, high unemployment & low wages most Bulgarians can't afford to spey & neuter their pets. I've witnessed first hand the municipalities policy of castrating dogs which only allowed certain vets a cushy well paid job. The local vet would wait for the strays to have litters before taking action thereby protecting his supply. Castrated dogs are being returned to the streets to live a poor life & often become more aggressive. The faeces they produce stink & could cause diseases especially to the young & elderly. POISON is not [...]

Read the full comment the way forward as it is indiscriminate & the dogs suffer an inhumane death. However, i believe that instead of the expense of neutering that once the vet has darted a stray he should put them to sleep. A neutering service should be provided to low income families who normally abandon new litters which increases the stray population.

"There are many very reputable groups in Bulgaria who are working to solve the problem. Unfortunately, this work gets undone when people dump unwanted dogs and puppies..."

Any idiot should see that groups "working to solve the problem" are not able (why?) to propose an adequate approach in unplanned pet breeding.

I do agree that humans are to blame for this serious problem and that education can help. But in the meantime we need a solution now and as I said before we need a cull before another child or elderly person is killed and indeed do not forget the zoo attacks in Sophia. Talk is free human life isnt.

The people of this country (among many many other countries) have no one to blame but themselves for this ongoing stray dog problem.

Any idiot should know that killing them does not in any way, solve the core problem, which is, as with most societal problems, people. Irresponsible owners are a great place to start. There are many very reputable groups in Bulgaria who are working to solve the problem. Unfortunately, this work gets undone when people dump unwanted dogs and puppies, which happens a lot more than you think. It's asking a lot for humans [...]

Read the full comment to be responsible for their actions, I know, but this is really the problem. Honestly, in reading some of the more hateful comments on this issue, people never cease to amaze me with their disgusting views. Do some of you hear yourselves? You advocate killing animals because they are inconvenient for you, when it is people who created the mess in the first place?

I sincerely hope that the select few hateful commentators have done us all a favor and have not propagated their species.

On a separate, but related note, I'd like to see the author of this story go around and actually talk to some of the animal groups working in this country and write a story on that.

Bet she doesent get much custom.

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

dear ms hatton,
your comment below refers.
i should like to point out to you that, whilst we do have freedom of speech, it does come with a responsiblity to guard against hate speech. your comment, calling an entire peoples 'immoral heathens', cannot, I submit, be interpeted with any measure of charity and is, accordingly, defamatory.
whilst your love of dogs is understandible, and very english, and, moreover, it is something you and I share, I must protest against your choice of verbiage and advise you that I have reported your comment to the [...]

Read the full comment moderators.
if we are going to have an informative debate on the article presented, what we need is not libel, venom, or hysterics, but a measure of dispassionate and constructive criticism.
I trust that all other participants in this forum will, from now on, enjoy the full extent of your insight at the appropriate level of discourse and send you my warm regards.

Do gooders make me sick they are all talk and no action. There is a major problem and most people can only talk and talk.As far as Brigitte Bardot is concerned I hope she has stoped going topless,what has stray dogs in another country got to do with her anyway send her back to France and hope she takes the strays with her. So stop talking and poisen the lot.

Anyone ever asks himself how these animals end up in the streets to begin with? How many people throw their animal in the street after they find out it is too much work to take PROPER care of it? Start to put chips in the sold animals and fine people with BIG fines if they feel they can do what they do without being punished.

"Adoption & Neuter-Release" model presented by BSAPP is not the sensible approach because it can't address the source of strays. So BSAPP, Dai Lapa, Four Paws and all similar AWO are not involved in real preventing cruelty cases; but they are interested in aimless fundraising.

Clearly, discussions about the dog problem cause more heat than light. But people will take things into their own hands when governments don't take their responsiblities but let their policies dictate by aged pin-ups. At least, the killer doesn't seem to have scattered his poison indiscriminatly.

LIVING IN KABLESHKOVO I SEE NEARLY EVERY OTHER HOUSE HAS A DOG CHAINED UP FOR [LIFE] WITH AN OLD OPEN BOX FOR A SHELTER.THESE DOGS WALK BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS TO THE END OF THER CHAINS ALL DAY LONG.I CRY WHEN I SEE THEM PADDLING BACK AND FORTH IN THE MUD SNOW AND THIRE OWN EXTREMENT.IT SEEMS TO BE A VILLAGE TRADITION. THE DOG LOOSE ON THE STREET IS BETTER OFF.

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

first incite to kill dogs, then who next? Disables, gays??? Roma, Bedbugs?

pernik seems to be a real hole..who would do such a vile thing to all the dogs? not just the mean aggressive ones..seems Pernik has Dog Nazis!

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

I want to say on this rubbish,who hide himself behind this stupid"COSMOS" that he/or she is just one nature's mistake!
Yes,today Brigitte Bardot is old,but she have many followers and we carry on her course!

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language

There are many dog shelters in BG, but they do not work together to deal with the issue.
One of them is the BSAPP - BG society for Animal Protection and Preservation (http://bulgariadogs.webs.com/).
Quite small and underfunded, they spay stray dogs, collect some off the street, and have found homes for many dogs and cats.
They do good work but need some sort of funding (state or regular donations) and people to help collect animals and maintain their clinical centre.
Poisoning is not the way out because the dead [...]

Read the full comment bodies attract other animals, and carry more disease.

Yes they should be put in shelters but can you find anyone to pay for it perhaps the mayor. Talk is cheap action speaks louder than the old (We are doing something about it rubbish) If you wait for the mayor to act we will have more dam dogs than humans in Sophia. We need to set up a slaughter group anyone interested.

So, lovely comments we have here! Incitements to kill dogs said with the most venomous tones, one might even say taking pleasure in the idea. And one person, a Brit or American perhaps, who lives here and defends the dogs yet refers to Bulgarians as immoral heathens. All these remarks make me want to cry. Yes, the dogs should be put in shelters and if non-adoptable be put down humanely. do we have to use hatred to make such an obvious point?

Poisen the lot I am sick and fed up with strays around my area. Please stop feeding the strays unless its going to poisen them.

Best news I have read for a long time.Also who cares about Brigitte Bardot great in the sixties but not anymore.I hope we have them all killed I am fed up with stepping in dog mess this alone carrys diseases. Well done to the killers of these strays keep up the good work its no good waiting for the so called mayors of the district they are a waste of tax payers money.

However, people from Dai Lapa did not provide any effective solution to stop local dog population growth. For instance, their website suggested "owned pet population control to be achieved by registration and microchipping". In fact, humane education programmes and low cost neutering schemes remain ignored.

Kill the b*gg*rs - humanely but thoroughly. La Bardot doesn't know what she is talking about - as a night-time street presence, both in Bucharest and in Sofia, they are intimidating, disease-carrying, and downright dangerous to people.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Mahatma Gandhi

Says everything about this country, immoral heathens.

They have the same problem in Bucharest. They were going to round them up but Brigitte Bardot flew in and created a stink so they left the dogs alone. I walked down a dark street one night and was surrounded by a pack of them all barking at once -it was quite terrifying. At that time I was not aware that they were strays or feral as we say in English.
It is cleaner and healthier NOT to have dogs in towns and cities and it is not fait to a dog to be kept in a small [...]

Read the full comment yard or house.

Lets hope the slaughter continues ! It really is frightening for elderly people and parents with young children having these dogs roaming loose.