If anyone is wondering who managed to persuade 9 Bulgarian mayors to ban New Year’s dawns, they will be surprised that this is an Egyptian – Amir Khalil, who does not even live in Bulgaria, but in Austria.
His conservation organization “4 Paws”, established in our country in 1994, is the one that shortly before 2022 drew the attention of famous Bulgarians to the stress that fireworks cause to animals. Thunderstorms also stress people, especially with diseases such as autism.
“We did not aim to motivate all municipalities to join our initiative. But they listened to our call and gave up the New Year’s fireworks. You know that loud explosions not only stress animals, but also children and people with disabilities. For other municipalities, the motive was to reduce air pollution. For us, it would be a success for even one person to give up fireworks in support of our initiative. Our campaign was focused on everyone and those who love animals. We succeeded because we saw real change and took a step forward. Our campaign is long overdue, but this year celebrities, organizations, many people took part in it “, explained to” 24 hours “from” Four Paws “- one of the main organizations behind the campaign against fireworks.
The action of “Four Paws” is from 5 years ago, but so far it has not received much support. This year, however, 9 cities, including Stara Zagora, Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, Pazardzhik, Kardzhali, Velingrad, Kyustendil, Chirpan, canceled the dice.
New Year’s fireworks is a tradition that began in Bulgaria in the early twentieth century. In terms of noise, it is considered the most gentle, because the landfills are in remote areas – Borisova Garden in Sofia, the southern end of Lake Varna, etc.
The hashtag #bezzarya took over Bulgarian Facebook last year, with stars such as Beloslava, Niki Kanchev, organizations such as the Jewish Shalom, medics and the media behind the campaign.
“The beauty for us is terrifying for them,” Beloslava proclaimed on her social network page.
“Let’s celebrate the Life of the New Year with the thought of them too! We are not alone in this world! ”Niki Kanchev called.
From the stress the animals get oversecretion of hormones from the adrenal gland, which causes problems in the assimilation of food, explained the veterinarian Dr. Edita Tomova. In addition, animals receive oversecretion of adrenal hormone antagonists, which could theoretically lead to painful death.
By the way, loud noise affects people in the same way, except for the direct impact on the ears and the nervous system as a whole.
Four Paws is an international organization that has been present in Bulgaria since the late 1990s. She built a shelter for dancing bears near Belitsa under the auspices of French star Brigitte Bardot. The organization also rescued animals from a zoo in Baghdad during the 2003 war, built a park for circus lions, and their latest action was with singer Cher – rescuing the lone elephant Kaawan from a zoo in Pakistan. In Bulgaria, they are working to control the populations of stray dogs and cats. They also saved the lions Terez and Masud from the zoo in Razgrad.
However, the removal of the official fireworks led to an even bigger wave of uncontrolled explosions of pirates, home fireworks, legal and non-combat and gas pistols. So the stress on the animals was no less.
CONTRA
It is
state
sadism
As a child, I didn’t expect the New Year to eat. Of course, not for drinking at that fragile age. If they had banned the fireworks then … I would probably have cried. And many children will probably cry tonight. Why should children be hurt? In order not to stress the street dogs?
This is state sadism! At the same time committed over minors!
Well, ban the sparkler too! Animals are also afraid of him, and children rejoice … but what do we care about children? wrote the journalist Konstantin Mishev.
Fireworks in Sofia soon
only with the signature of the mayor
Sofia welcomed the New Year with a light show instead of fireworks. Thus, the Sofia Municipality joined the initiative of the Four Paws Foundation for fewer fireworks on the holiday night, so as not to stress the animals.
The municipality is preparing a change in the ordinance on public order, which will limit the use of fireworks not only on New Year’s Eve. The chairman of the municipal council Georgi Georgiev, who is preparing the changes, is personally involved in the cause. They are expected to be adopted this month.
The new regulation is for fireworks, various types of fireworks such as Roman candles, pirates, etc. They are a major cause of noise and stress. Pyrotechnic articles of categories F2 and F3 will be able to be used only with the permission of the regional mayor. Anyone who wants to make fireworks must submit an application to the district administration within 10 days. The district mayor may refuse permission if the fireworks are near hospitals, schools, kindergartens, inter-block spaces. Cancellation can also be given in bad weather.
The Ministry of Interior and the Sofia Inspectorate will monitor the new rules.
In case of violation, the fines for citizens will be from BGN 500 to BGN 2,000, and for companies – from BGN 3,000 to 10,000.
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