site.btaMunicipal Council Demands Cancellation of Order Banning Access of Volunteers to Vrabnitsa Vet Clinic

Chairman of the commission on environmental protection, agriculture and forests in the Sofia Municipal Council Krasimir Galabov and municipal councilors Vanya Grigorova ("BSP for Bulgaria") and Marta Georgieva ("Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria") issued a joint request that the order banning access of volunteers to the Vrabnitsa Veterinary Clinic with the municipal enterprise "Ecoravnovesie" be repealed. The order was issued by the director of the enterprise at the end of April this year.

Vanya Grigorova explained that volunteers who took pictures of the dogs in the clinic, how they looked when they were under volunteer care and how they looked after the care was stopped, were forbidden to post the pictures on social networks. According to her, the spaying and neutering of some of the stray dogs at the Vrabnitsa Clinic was poorly done, leading to sepsis and death of the animals. According to her, the main problems in the clinic are the insufficient number of employees in "Ecoravnovesie", insufficient funding of the enterprise's activities, lack of communication with volunteers, etc. According to her, the acting director of the enterprise Dimitar Dimitrov does not want to meet with the volunteers, and the mayor of the capital Vassil Terziev does not want to deal with the problem.

“The photos that the volunteers showed us are not for the general public, they show creatures that do not look like dogs, stitched up terribly after castration. We have initiated a working group, with which we will start systematic work to clarify the situation in "Ecoravnovesie". We don't have access, volunteers don't have access, MPs don't have access, there is police access,” Galabov said.

“The problems in the clinic in Vrabnitsa have been accumulating for years and are extremely severe, and the most worrying thing is that this is animal cruelty supported by our money,” said Marta Georgieva and pointed out that the budget of "Ecoravnovesie" for this year is BGN 4.3 million. She said a lasting and effective solution is needed to control the stray dog population. Georgieva specified that meetings with the management of "Ecoravnovesie" and with the mayor of Sofia Terziev are forthcoming.