The new proposition to introduce the unknown
concept of "temporary shelters," approved by the Committee
on Agriculture:
- violates article 12 of European Convention № 125 by depriving
ownerless animals of the humane treatment that is required for
them
- violates article 5, paragraph 4 of the Constitution of the
Republic of Bulgaria, which stipulates precedence of international
over domestic norms
- provokes local councils to choose the scheme "temporary
shelters," which allows abuse of public funds at the expense
of animal welfare
- stimulates reproduction through the removal of street dogs
before their birth rate has been cut down, which means that
the vacated environmental niches will be quickly filled by newborns
and migrants - the problems will remain for both the people
and the dogs themselves
- violates the rights of the citizens who have treated those
animals humanely
- creates conditions for the escalation of social tension
- cripples the TNR (trap-neuter-return) method - a method which
reduces the number of dogs, but which achieves temporary, local
results if applied in selected municipalities only
(After a grace period, the neutered street dogs will be
housed into shelters - once all the at-risk dogs in the community
where they live have been rendered sterile. In the final stage
of the TNR campaign, the stray dog population will disappear
as a result of the absence of breeding animals.)