Yesterday the horror of this story sent a chill up my spine, having also personally been on the receiving end of Bulgarian cruelty and hostility.
I received a desperate message from a friend in Bulgaria named Boriana, who also had alerted us about the lioness in the zoo there last year.
A Dutch lady who lived in Velingrad, Bulgaria, had been thrown out of her apartment by an evil landlord, the police had then removed her beloved dogs, shot and killed nine of them, beaten one untill it's legs were broken and locked her out on the street, refusing her access to get her clothes, passport and personal belongings. The harsh winter there can be fatal to anyone outside at night. This dear lady has already spent the whole week sleeping on the street near a market, desperately clinging to life and her last remaining dogs.
Within minutes the message bounced off Julia to Nadia in New York, then back to me in S.Africa and onto a few more friends back in Sofia. Frantically everyone involved spent hours messaging each other across the world. Another friend Milena in Bulgaria lent her friend a car, who drove through the night to fetch this lady, and then drove her across Bulgaria to Kerry and Kosta at our house in the far north. They arrived in Batak in the early hours of this morning, where Kerry and Kosta have just given her a hot meal, and finally a warm place to stay. (http://www.streetdogrescue.com/)
Police had abused their power, the Embassy had proved useless, but friends on Facebook once again swung into action. Against all odds another life has been saved.
Thanks to everyone involved, who dedicated themselves to yet another day of good cause.
To Kerry Rowles and Kosta Chakurov in Batak, you are saviours to the lost and forgotten.
"Together as one, each and every one of us can change the world to be a better place."
URGENT!A letter to the Dutch ambasador in Sofia !!!Possible violation of human rights of a Dutch citizen in Bulgaria - URGENT!!!
by Popova Penka on Monday, 14 February 2011 at 23:02
Your Excellency,
I am deeply embarrassed and concerned about what I saw and heard yesterday in Velingrad from Mrs. Henrika Barkling (name might not be spelled correctly; mobile: 0882 807 213), a Dutch citizen. We (Mrs. Penka Popova, Dr. Georgi Litov and me as representatives of a registered "Civil control - animal defense NGO" and personally) were contacted by Mrs. Miglena Arapova (0887733558, ad.miglena@abv.bg), Attorney at law on February, 8th, 2011. In her letter she asks for advise and help about what had happened to Mrs. Barkling a few days ago. The story she tells was confirmed by Mrs. Barkling herself on Ferbuary, 13th, 2011 when we met personally in Velingrad. Here I am trying to summarize it in short. Mrs. Barkling resides in Velingrad since July 2010. She came to Bulgaria with her husband and her dog, they rented an apartment in Velingrad. By the end of January 2011 the landlord changed the front door lock and she has not been able to enter the apartment since. All her personal stuff and documents are still locked inside, she has no clothes to change and she sleeps in the wood by a church, according to her story. By the time she was refused access to her apartment she had 7 small dogs inside - her own one plus 6 other stray animals she sheltered in her place. For one week they were given no food or water. On February, 2nd, 2011 a Bulgarian policeman came with the landlord and took all her dogs away. No police order or any other officially signed by any authority was shown to her. Again she was not allowed to enter the apartment and take her personal belongings. She was told to go by taxi to the veterinarian where they were taking the dogs to. The vet knew nothing about it. She called Mrs. Arapova, attorney at law, who accompanied Mrs. Barkling to the police station.They were sent to the Municipality where they were told the dogs had been released in an area outside Velingrad. Mrs. Barkling and Mrs. Arapova went there by taxi and found no dogs although they spent a couple of hours looking for them. They still know nothing about the dogs. Besides, there had been 5 other stray dogs just outside the apartment building, which Mrs. Barkling had been taking care of as well. She reports that the policeman kicked the dogs (one of them has its leg broken as a result, another one has a swelling wound) and fired some pistol shots, probably dummy bullets. Almost two weeks later Mrs. Barkling has still no place to stay, no documents, no clothes, no idea why she had been evicted, why her dogs were taken away or what happened to them. This happens in Bulgaria, Europe, XXI century to a citizen of another EU member-state. We have already contacted the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, some journalists here and in the Netherlands, many animal welfare NGOs, a Facebook group is about to be created. We consider all these major human rights and law violations, as well as brutal Animal Welfare Act violation. About the latter we - as an NGO - are already taking action, but we can't be of much help to a woman in trouble which is why we are kindly asking you to investigate the case and assist Mrs. Barkling in finding a civilized and lawful solution out of the situation, including claims and charges against the Bulgarian authorities/officers in case of national and international law violation.
Your Excellency,
I am deeply embarrassed and concerned about what I saw and heard yesterday in Velingrad from Mrs. Henrika Barkling (name might not be spelled correctly; mobile: 0882 807 213), a Dutch citizen. We (Mrs. Penka Popova, Dr. Georgi Litov and me as representatives of a registered "Civil control - animal defense NGO" and personally) were contacted by Mrs. Miglena Arapova (0887733558, ad.miglena@abv.bg), Attorney at law on February, 8th, 2011. In her letter she asks for advise and help about what had happened to Mrs. Barkling a few days ago. The story she tells was confirmed by Mrs. Barkling herself on Ferbuary, 13th, 2011 when we met personally in Velingrad. Here I am trying to summarize it in short. Mrs. Barkling resides in Velingrad since July 2010. She came to Bulgaria with her husband and her dog, they rented an apartment in Velingrad. By the end of January 2011 the landlord changed the front door lock and she has not been able to enter the apartment since. All her personal stuff and documents are still locked inside, she has no clothes to change and she sleeps in the wood by a church, according to her story. By the time she was refused access to her apartment she had 7 small dogs inside - her own one plus 6 other stray animals she sheltered in her place. For one week they were given no food or water. On February, 2nd, 2011 a Bulgarian policeman came with the landlord and took all her dogs away. No police order or any other officially signed by any authority was shown to her. Again she was not allowed to enter the apartment and take her personal belongings. She was told to go by taxi to the veterinarian where they were taking the dogs to. The vet knew nothing about it. She called Mrs. Arapova, attorney at law, who accompanied Mrs. Barkling to the police station.They were sent to the Municipality where they were told the dogs had been released in an area outside Velingrad. Mrs. Barkling and Mrs. Arapova went there by taxi and found no dogs although they spent a couple of hours looking for them. They still know nothing about the dogs. Besides, there had been 5 other stray dogs just outside the apartment building, which Mrs. Barkling had been taking care of as well. She reports that the policeman kicked the dogs (one of them has its leg broken as a result, another one has a swelling wound) and fired some pistol shots, probably dummy bullets. Almost two weeks later Mrs. Barkling has still no place to stay, no documents, no clothes, no idea why she had been evicted, why her dogs were taken away or what happened to them. This happens in Bulgaria, Europe, XXI century to a citizen of another EU member-state. We have already contacted the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, some journalists here and in the Netherlands, many animal welfare NGOs, a Facebook group is about to be created. We consider all these major human rights and law violations, as well as brutal Animal Welfare Act violation. About the latter we - as an NGO - are already taking action, but we can't be of much help to a woman in trouble which is why we are kindly asking you to investigate the case and assist Mrs. Barkling in finding a civilized and lawful solution out of the situation, including claims and charges against the Bulgarian authorities/officers in case of national and international law violation.
Sincerely yours,
Dipl.Eng. Georgi Serbezov
M.F.A. Penka Popova
Dipl.Eng. Georgi Serbezov
M.F.A. Penka Popova
This is so very sad, never could believe such a thing could take place in 2011. You hear of such cruelty but find it hard to think its true, then you see things in movies such as this and it passes over your head as not true.
ReplyDeleteI cannot think that a country who need to have visitors for new inputs of money, would sanction such events.
Once this spreads as it should all over the world, I,m willing to bet Bulgaria will loose its vacationers and be labeled as one of the worse countries in the world to visit.
Bulgaria is full of muslims. Muslims hate dogs. This is not a racist or hateful statement, this is fact. Anywhere muslims live in great numbers, and particularly in islamic countries dogs are poisoned and killed.
ReplyDeleteIn Turkey, in one city, a mayor has personally taken to spreading poison to kill, not just strays, but pets and guard dogs, and then of course even racoons, opossum, and hedgehogs wind up dead as well. I have seen pictures from Turkey with piles of so many dead dogs they needed a front end loader to scoop them up. IRAN has just recently made it illegal for dogs to live in flats (apartments) and to 'walk a dog' - dogs are only allowed for protection. If you are caught your dog is killed and you are fined.
The worst part is that this backwards country is part of the EU. Have you had any updates about this incident? This is horrible. It's bad enough about the dogs, but, the fact that they just locked her out and won't let her back into her apartment with no explanation violates her civil rights. EU is big on 'human rights' so maybe write another letter to the EU human rights group. They are the ones that say it violates terrorists human rights to be extradited to the United States where they may face 'life' in prison' and also the rights of 'squatters' - so they should be amenable to help her.
BunBun4life,
ReplyDeleteThe latest is that gypsies in the village have ransacked my house for the second time and are squatting on the property.The young couple who were running my house as a shelter for animals were constantly threatened and had to leave. The mayor and police turn a blind eye to it all. These muslims create suffering and harm to animals and people wherever they are in the world. I agree, it is not racist, just a statistic fact.
Now after investing my money in an EU country and donating the property to help a local problem, the very people there make it impossible. The authorities there are of no use either.