The death of 51-year-old UK citizen Margaret Ann Gordon awakened the Bulgarian Parliament to the need to approve new amendments to the Animal Protection Act. Her death was the result of an attack by several stray dogs. The attack took place in the south-eastern village of Nedyalsko near Yambol on November 27. The amendments were approved on November 29, two days after the fatal incident.
On noon of November 27 Gordon, who was originally from Wallsend, North Tyneside, was walking her German Shepherd in the village, where she and her husband had lived since 2005. Several strays attacked her, chasing away her dog. The first witnesses of the accident were a few children, who tried to help Gordon but were attacked by the dogs themselves and ran away. Nadya Zhecheva from the local regional Police Office said that a shepherd finally succeeded in getting the dogs away but the woman had already died, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
Nedyalsko mayor Todor Zhekov said Gordon had suffered many injuries and there was a lot of blood around the body. However he denied that there were stray dogs living in the village.
It has been said that the dogs appeared from the direction of Gordon’s neighbour’s yard but he denied the dogs were his.
Ilia Donev, chief of the forensic medicine department at Yambol hospital, confirmed on November 28 that the cause of death was the many wounds that Gordon had sustained. She died because of massive haemorrhage and traumatic shock from the pain. The bites were mainly on the lower part of Gordon’s body and on her arms.
According to Donev, the death was comparatively quick.
After the incident, Yambol Regional Veterinary Medicine Office (RVMO) attendants captured four dogs, which were near the place of the attack, and placed them in isolation in Yambol. According to RVMO chief Krassimir Dyulgerov, they were later moved to the local animal shelter, Bulgarian language daily Dnevnik reported on November 28.
Although Ann Gordon was living in Bulgaria with her husband Jim her relatives have requested that her body be buried in the UK.
However, on November 30, Dnevnik reported that a hospital in Bulgaria had demanded 3000 pounds (more than 8200 leva) from her husband to keep Gordon’s body in the morgue. Dnevnik was quoting the UK newspaper the Daily Express (DE), which according to the Bulgarian media published an article titled ‘Bulgarians want 3000 pounds ransom for a body’.
According to the British newspaper, Bulgarian and Scottish friends of Gordon’s family said that the amount was demanded from Jim Gordon. The DE said it was not common for Bulgarian burial agencies to “attack” the bereaved with huge fees and bills immediately after the death of a relative. However, Gordon was reportedly enraged by the request. “Jim does not deserve this. He is not in good health and he is still not recovered after his wife’s death. This could be a local practice but in fact it is a real torture and outrage of his sorrow,” Jim Gordon’s friend said.
Jim Gordon has a brother and nephew in Canada and a sister in Glasgow. They are now arranging their flights to Bulgaria to take him and his wife’s body home.
Ann Gordon was the sole carer of her husband, who was disabled as the result of a stroke. Currently some British neighbours are helping Jim Gordon after his wife’s death. One of them said that before the tragedy some dogs had bitten Ann Gordon three times but no one did anything. “This is indeed a problem here, otherwise life in Bulgaria is pleasant,” the neighbour said, as quoted by Dnevnik.
Ann and Jim Gordon were married for 17 years. They had no children but Ann Gordon had a 33-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Her daughter is now living in South England.
After the attack, many of the UK media devoted their leading stories to the tragedy. Some of them stated that the UK foreign office and UK embassy in Sofia were collecting information on the incident.
Following the tragic accident, Bulgarian MPs approved amendments to the Animal Protection Act (APA). Pet owners may now lose their animal if they beat the animal. In addition to this, Parliament approved a fine, ranging from 500 to 1000 leva, for people who mistreated their pets. The amendments to the law define abandoning an animal on the street as cruel treatment, as well as hitting the animal.
Another reason a fine may be imposed is if a pet is not given sufficient living space. The law states that cats and small dogs have to have at least six sq m to live in, while dogs weighing more than 25kg must have at least 10 sq m.
The new amendments also refers to pets that live outside. Dogs tied on a rope have to have a line of at least five m long and should be walked daily. The new amendments, which are linked to European integration, provide for a complete ban on the import, trade and breeding of monkeys and wild cats, except in zoos and animal sanctuaries, Bulgarian language daily Standart reported on November 30.
Meanwhile, animal rights activists commented that the new APA protected mainly people. Their statement, which was endorsed by 26 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from all over Bulgaria, was sent to members of Parliament's committee on agriculture and forests and to BTA news agency by the association Intimate With Nature Society, BTA reported on December 3.
According to the activists, imposing only a fine would have little effect, as the profits from illegal activities are much greater than the amount of the fines.
In addition, cruelty towards animals is a criminal offence in Austria, the UK, Germany, Greece, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Norway, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland, France, the US, Canada, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium and in other countries. According to the animal rights activists, making cruelty to animals a criminal act is a much stronger deterrent than just a fine.
In respect of the stray dogs issue in Bulgaria, the NGOs statement said that in the first place it is necessary to implement a unified method in all populated sites. The complex measures, defined by the World Health Organisation have to be followed. They include a strict control over the trade and propagation of home dogs; the castration of all dogs either strays or those removed from their owners and, where appropriate, new homes found for the dogs; and the euthanasia of aggressive and sick strays. It has been calculated that through correct implementation of these mentioned measures, the dog population could be brought to minimum over a period of three to five years. According to the NGOs the implementation of buffer zones for dogs (fences around free spaces in town suburbs) is not applicable.
