Dancing Bears In Bulgaria - Humane Treatment of Animals Treaty Signed

I read that Bulgaria today (9th December 2008) Bulgaria will become the first European Union country to officially sign a contract for the humane treatment of animals.

Bulgaria is a country of self-sufficiency that leads most of the population having animals because they have a vital role to play in their survival here under the umbrella of poverty. A pet is a word that many Bulgarians just don't understand and although most treat their animals well there isn't any sentiment in pampering their animals. Why have an animal if it isn't providing something in return or paying its way for the family? Generally no animal is kept by country folk in Bulgaria if it has no practical use.

Dancing bears in the same way had a purpose, or used to. It provided an income for many Bulgarians who owned them derived from tourists who want to see them perform.

The reason that this has been banned is quite plain to understand. Cruelty is used to tame the bears by training cubs to dance on hot metal plates. The animals subsequently jump and hop around, not dancing but raising their hot burnt paws. Music is playing continuously alongside this treatment and eventually the bears associate the pain with the music. After time they automatically hop and jump around to the music or seemingly dancing. No need for hot plates once this music and pain association has been instilled.

It has been quite a while now where the ownership of dancing bears is forbidden in Bulgaria although there are still many dancing bears that are still registered.

So Bulgaria has been branded for many years with bear dancing being allowed to carry on for so long. It is no surprise that Bulgaria, now firmly secured under the EU banner, have had help in masterminding some repair work to curb their current poor reputation from failing to prevent cruelty to animals.

The Bulgarian Agriculture Minister and the President of the international 'Four Paws' Foundation, have signed a contract for collaboration between the Agriculture Ministry and the non-governmental organization to stop humane treatment of animals in the country.

The 'Four Paws' Foundation has been helping mistreated animals across Europe for many years now and now finds itself working in Bulgaria. It is best known in Bulgaria for the foundation and up keep of the Dancing Bears Park close to the town of Belitsa. The campaign against the cruelty of bears in Bulgaria started in 1999 with the first bears arriving a month later. The park was officially opened in 2000 with the park having a total area over 12 hectares

There are other projects in Bulgaria that look after the welfare of animals alongside 'Four Paws,' this also includes campaigns for the neutering of stray animals and in progress around many towns and cities throughout Bulgaria right now. This will help reduce the amount of stray dogs and cats that roam the streets in Bulgaria and also minimise the amount road accidents from cars colliding with stray animals.