site.btaDozens Protest against Animal Abuse in Downtown Sofia

Dozens of people protested against animal abuse in front of the National Assembly building here on Monday. This was the fourth protest organised by animal rights activists following the case of two persons getting arrested for torture and killing of animals, and doing so on camera to sell the footage online.

The previous protests against animal abuse were organized in front of the Palace of Justice in the capital. They were supported by dozens of people in different settlements across Bulgaria.

The protesters gathered in front of the National Assembly at 6 p.m. on Monday with placards reading “We will not tolerate degeneracy and sadism”, “A great nation is known by the way it treats animals”, “Prison for the killers”, “If the law does not stop them, who will be next?!”, “Animal cruelty is a criminal offence!”, and “Silence is consent”.

Two nongovernmental organizations - Mecho and Friends and Invisible Animals - co-organized the protest, Zlatin Mladenski from Mecho and Friends told BTA. They demand amendments to the Animal Protection Act and, in particular, to the Penal Code towards heavier penalties for animal killers and abusers. "We also want more focused and targeted police work to prevent these crimes and, last but not least, the creation of an animal protection commission under the National Assembly and an advisory council under the Council of Ministers, because we believe that these problems have been going on for too many years now," Mladenski said.