The shocking treatment of animals in Bulgaria has sparked a wave of protests, with calls for stricter penalties

Monday, Mar 24, 2025

Delfi

International animal protection groups urge Bulgarian government to strengthen laws against animal cruelty after horrific videos surfaced.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

An international animal protection organization reported to the Bulgarian government about videos circulating online showing extreme animal cruelty, noting that a suspect and an accomplice were arrested on charges including money laundering and cruel behavior towards animals. The organization detailed horrific acts against various animals, such as strangulation, driving them over roads, beating them with sticks, and electrocutings them for profit, possibly related to fetishistic practices. In response to these atrocities, protests have occurred in Bulgaria demanding stricter accountability, harsher penalties, and legislative changes. A petition signed by nearly 200,000 residents calls for maximum prison sentences and amendments to animal protection laws. The Ministry of Justice has proposed criminalizing the filming and distribution of such acts and increasing existing penalties from a maximum of three years’ imprisonment to eight years, and fines from up to 5,000 levs to 10,000 levs. An activist from another Lithuanian organization commented that current laws allow sadists to receive insufficient punishment and stressed that the severity of punishments reflects societal values regarding animal suffering.

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