[www.flickr.com]

Have you heard of WSPA Piho ?.. they do good things for animals [www.wspa-international.org]

yes, i know of them.

i am actually now working with 2 separte animal rights groups in bulgaria. they are working on getting a bill passed in bulgarian pariliament,

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!


eveyone please write a letter explaining how taboo this is in the west. explain how horrible this makes bulgaria look. explain how sad it makes you. bulgaria is really trying to market itself as a tourist destination now that it is an eu member. so, if they believe that animal abuse will affect tourism, then we can get through to them.

so please, write a letter, send it to pihourova@yahoo.com


be sure to include your name and the country where you live.

i will have to print the letters and send them via snail mail, along with the pics to The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters and also some members of bulgarian parliament.

i just wanted to add that i would not use anyone's email address for anything.

and that i would cut off that section of the email before mailing the letters to the authorites, in case anyone is reluctant to write a letter because they are worried about me or others seeing thier email address.

Good for you. Never doubt what you can change.

Thanks pakd!!! And thanks to everyone else who is writing in. the more people we can get to write the better!

just a reminder, it does not have to be a long letter. it can be as long or as short as you want.

2 sentances or 50 sentances! but we need to let bulgaria know that this is barbaric behaviour and that they need laws against this!

so please please please everyone, take the time to help us. just 5 minutes of your time. please!

i just wanted to bump this up. i have not quite gotten the "out pouring" of support that i was expecting from this group.

come on, everyone. i thought you were all peta members, vegans, etc....


its just a short paragraph. 3 minutes of your time.

i have only until the end of next week to send the letters off.

ok, since i have only gotten 3 replies, perhaps i should elaborate further on what was going on here.

i am bulgarian.

i was in bulgaria when i saw this, in july. this monkey was being used as a prop. they wanted money from me for taking his pic. i refused. they became angry and began walking away.

at this point i noticed the monkey had a broken leg and could not keep up with them. so they began beating him on the head and he was punched in the face as well. also, if you notice in one of the pics, the man keeps his foot on the monkey's. also, he had no hair where the chain was on his neck. i assume this chain was very tight and probably was never removed from his neck.

as i said, i work with 2 separate, non-profit, volunteer run, animal rights groups in bulgaria. we are going to make a petition to bulgarian government very soon. but we need for them to see how taboo this is.

bulgaria was behind the iron curtain for a long time. therefore many of the people there have been isolated and are not stupid, but ignorant about primates.

currently there are no laws in place that are strong enough to enforce. and frankly, nobody cares. but, things are changing. bulgaria is trying very hard to show the world it is a european country. not a backwards barbaric tribe. and if enough people tell them this is not right, we will get their attention.

i have till the end of next week to mail the letters. they all have to be translated and sent all together via snail mail. and one of our lawyers with the animal rights group is going to petition to parliament. she has an appointment. so, this is kind of urgent.

if you want to help stop the abuse of primates in bulgaria, please take 5 minutes of your time to write a brief email to the address above.

look at the pics one more time. please help me to help him. i have nightmares about this. i wanted to grab him and run. but, he is a wild animal after all. i have cried until i have no tears left to cry. and the worst part is, unless we do something, it will continue to happen to others like him.

Just looked at the photos. So sad, I cried. This poor beautiful creature is enslaved and tortured, and you can see how it has destroyed him. I'm sorry, Pihourova, that I didn't read this sooner. Can I still write a letter?

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

YES! please. i have until the end of next week to get them in the mail. i am going to mail all of them, which are not very many on friday.

thanks alot.

Wow, that last post... so sad.

That will be my "project" this week, so I'll get as many letters written as I can and email them to you.

oh my god!!! thank you so much suzie! you guys have no idea how much of a difference this will make. we are making alot of noise already. this case was talked about on a famous bulgarian radio show, and they put it in the sofia newspaper as well. (sofia is capital of bulgaria)

i just wanted to say thank you to the 5 people who sent me a letter. i sent private messages as well, but i know that some people have been having problems viewing their pm's. so just in case you all did not know..... i am very grateful for your help. thank you. i going to post office now! i will keep you updated on progress.

Thanks, Camille, keep us posted!

sorry i couldnt get back to you in time pihourova but ive been contacting some people locally as well

could you possibly send me the address where you are sending your letters too so we can forward some there as well

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

National Assembly of Bulgaria".
2 Narodno Subranie Sq.
Sofia, Bulgaria
1000


hey jgunn. this is the address. nobody ever checks the emails. and i am not sure if any members of parliament would be able to read english. sad, i know, but probably true.

so, if you want me to translate anything for you, you could send it to me in email and i will send it back to you translated. let me know.


thanks for caring



update: Animal Protection Bill passed on first vote today. makes it easier to prosecute those found guilty of animal abuse. small victory.

still need stricter laws to protect endangered species, like different types of primates, from being used as tourist props.

thanks hun and again sorry i didnt ge tback to you in time the first round i musta missed reading the part that you had a week!

[thorntree.lonelyplanet.com]

id suggest posting something in the lonely planet guide as well about this .. i know ive been swayed away from travelling to certain countries based on their *ethical* policies

above is the link to the bulgarian forum

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist