It was ten years ago that the nation of Bulgaria adapted a law forbidding the cruel practice of Gypsy Dancing Bears. But like many newly adopted animal protection laws of the former Soviet Republics it was a law of little substance which sat on the shelf collecting dust.
�The law was useless because what was a policeman to do? - confiscate a bear and bring it to the station� says Tsvetelina Ivanova of Vier Pfoten who�s organization in partnership with Brigitte Bardot Foundation and the Bulgarian government have opened the Belitsa Dancing Bear Park for Bulgaria�s newly liberated Gypsy Dancing bears.
....Made captive as cubs the bears are subjected to a torturous process of conditioning that begins with forcing them over hot metal plates. The young bears jump in pain while loud music is played. This repeated action conditions them to �dance� when they hear the music. A metal ring inserted through the bears ultra-sensitive nose and interior lips yields him as a puppet to his masters command. A simple tug of the chain causes the bear excruciating pain. Visible scars and deformities to the animals noses and upper lips are still grossly visible on all six of the park residents.
This reporter�s arrival at the park was greeted by Malinka who immediately began performing her gypsy trained dance - 3 steps left then 3 steps right. She spent 13 years forced to behave this way. Of the six bears at the park she is the only one who continues to perform. �When Malinka first came here she would dance all day long but less and less till now she dances only a couple hours a day,� says the bear keeper Ibrahim Garaliski. - ANIMAL PEOPLE 9/02
Fethiye, Turkey;..... Clusters of stray dogs is an everyday reality throughout Turkey. Another reality is the �yearly round up�. Just before tourist season the stray dogs are routinely collected and then dropped off in the mountains. Those that avoid capture are dealt with by poison or shot gun blasts. �If killing solved the problem then there just wouldn�t be anymore strays, � say Perihan Agnelli, founder of Fethiye Friends Of Animals Association.
A total of 700 Fethiye strays have since been neutered of which many have been adopted leaving the streets with an unprecedented few. A tour of the city reveals the success of the project and chat with any rug salesman or Kebab shop owner will tell you the same thing -�there has never been so few stray dogs in Fethiye.�
..... The program�s extraordinary success has not only captured national media attention - which clippings dominates a side wall in the center office - but has also captured the ears of many area mayors looking for help in their own increasing numbers of stray.
�I am not an animal lover,� Perihan will often remind you. �If I was an animal lover I couldn�t have done this.� She is quick to credit her business sense and ability to communicate and explain her reasoning followed by a now and then chummy slap on the back... ANIMAL PEOPLE 11/02
....Perhaps the most serious animal welfare violations on the island concerns its overzealous bird hunting and trapping tradition. This loosely regulated activity is played out like a video game where anything that flies is fair game. It is a custom that has been handed down from British society durring its 200 year occupation of the island. It is this sporting tradition which has been held directly responsible for the extinction of the famed Maltese Falcon. Animal People 12/00
Bucharest, Romania has been a city of contrast throughout its 500 year history. It is a city where old and new structures merge, where beauty blends with the ugly and where 2.3 million people share the city�s byzantine streets with an estimated 200,000 street dogs.
This extraordinarily number of strays is apparent around the turn of every corner where dogs can be seen lying in the shade or scrounging through trash bins in search of food. By grocery stores and restaurants they assemble in groups where they do their best begging.
..... �The dogs are very smart here and they have learned how to survive and fend for themselves. They know where to go to for food and find shelter. They even know how to cross the streets,� says Florin Popescu.
........Ms. Ghifuleac, whose only income is a 30 dollar pension, is not unlike many Bucharestian�s who care for the dogs like they were her own. She claims to relates to their sense of homelessness having spent years as a refugee during the war years.
The dogs source of food generally comes from people like Sanda Radu, a school teacher who tosses leftover food out from her 2nd floor apartment window, and Florin Popescu who manages a warehouse and unknown to his bosses shelters two strays which he feeds meat products off the company shelves. �I do it because I love the animals and they get no help from the street.�
Even the suffering Bucharest street children show a special feeling towards the dogs. Raluca Monea, President of The Defense of Animal Rights Organization tells how she came to own Coco, one of her five dogs. �He was given to me by a street child. I was very impressed because he didn�t have food for himself and yet he was caring for the puppy. He was in tears when he handed it to me.�
GOOD DOD MAGAZINE / ANIMAL PEOPLE '98