Sofia: Authority's Unwilling to Solve Pet Overpopulation Problem
Animal Programs, August 4, 2010
On July 27 2010, Sofia Municipality announced interim data on its first neuter & register campaign launched recently in the Novi Iskyr District. Between July 13 and July 26, five settlements were served by the veterinary team - Chepinci, Svetovrachene, Kubratovo, Negovan and Vojnjagovci, BGNnes News Agency quoted City Hall. According to the authorities, a total of 74 owned dogs were sterilized, vaccinated, marked and passportized.
In fact, Mayor Fandykova's Team left the local pet population uncounted and unaltered. While the five involved villages have a combined human population of about 7400 inhabitants, the number of kept dogs shall be considered near 1500. Moreover, the core city remains quite surrounded by problematic districts, where most of Sofia's entire latch-key dogs are living: Vrybnica, Bankja and Ovcha Kupel to the West; Kremikovci and Pancharevo to the East; and Vitosha to the South.
Apparently, the City Hall's meager intervention was inspired by the outgoing Bulgarian authority's unwilling to solve pet overpopulation problem. The Sofia animal services' average fortnightly budget is over 55,000 leva, and there is a striking discrepancy between provided funding and negligible number of spayed dogs. These money should be sufficient for a non-government group to provide sterilization and all treatment of 300 or more dogs.