Hundreds of farmers in the southeast of Bulgaria, an area close to Turkey and recently ravaged by repeated outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, have decided to defend their animals, saying they would rather be killed first than have their animals destroyed.

Thousands of farm animals in the Strandzha region are earmarked for destruction as a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth FMD in the region of Sredets was confirmed, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on March 28 2011.

But the operation to cull the animals was being hampered by a protest organised by stock-breeders who are complaining that the Government is lying to them, depriving them of coherent information, and has failed on its promises. They accuse the Government of too much talk, and absolutely no substance behind it.

The stockbreeders have written a lengthy letter to Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for international co-operation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, in which they demand that they are provided with real assistance; furthermore, they demand to know why the Government is hesitating and refusing to build a fence along the Turkish border after the first FMD outbreak in January.

FMD was found in four regions in Bulgaria near the Turkish border for the first time in 12 years. Reportedly, after animals were slaughtered in Kosti and other regions near Bourgas, Yambol and Haskovo, the outbreak was successfully tackled, but then Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that a wall along the border with Turkey would not be built, because " it was not necessary for the Government to be spending money on the project"

Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov had said that "it would be cheaper for us to build a fence and protect our farmers that way, rather than having to pay them compensation for the animals"

But no fence is being built, and no other measures are being taken to protect the stockbreeders, who now have vowed that they will not allow the slaughter to continue. Still, some animals were put down, as the veterinary teams managed to cull 206 cattle on March 28, but their owners fear that they will not be compensated properly for them.

Almost the entire population of Momina Tsurkva, a village in the Strandzha region will be affected if the animals are slaughtered – from large farms which employ up to 30 individuals, to families who own one or two cows on which they rely for milk and cheese, a bTV report said.

"They are trying to destroy our living. This is a tragedy," farmers in the village told a bTV news crew.

The previous day, stockbreeders blocked the road leading to Turkey, threatening that they would not allow their animals to be destroyed and that they would let them roam free instead.

Last week, Inspectors of Bulgaria's Food Safety Agency (BFSA) confirmed a new case of FMD contamination, with six out of seven blood samples from domestic animals testing positive in the village of Granichar in the municipality of Sredets, southeastern Bulgaria.

As many as 130 animals in the village are affected. The entire herd, owned by a private individual, will be destroyed.

According to veterinary experts, this new outbreak, as happened previously, crossed into Bulgaria from Turkey.

About 300 farmers from the Strandzha villages of Fakiya, Dolno Tabulkovo, Granichar and Momina Tsurkva have vowed that they are ready to fight for their livestock and will not allow the nearly 7000 animals to be killed.