Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme made it possible to avoid the certain death of a bitch sent from Bulgaria to Norway with a "false passport".
The intervention of the famous Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme made it possible to avoid the certain death of a bitch sent from Bulgaria to Norway with a "false passport", welcomed Monday an animal welfare foundation.
"Her name is Raya and could not be registered on arrival because of a false passport. Norway threatened to euthanize her on Tuesday if Sofia did not take her back," Yavor Guetchev told AFP. from the association Vier Pfoten ("Quatre pattes").
"I beg the Bulgarian authority"
But its Norwegian buyer has started an online petition that caught the attention of the Belgian action movie star.
"On the occasion of my birthday, I beg the authority (Bulgarian, editor's note): change your decision [...]. We cannot kill this little chihuahua", launched Jean-Claude Van Damme this weekend in a video posted on social media.
Bulgaria made an exception
Bulgaria, which invoked the strict health rules of the European Union, prohibiting the entry into the territory of live animals with fraudulent travel documents, then made an exception, by accepting Raya's return.
"The Bulgarian authorities are to be congratulated for being flexible, but they must exercise tighter control over clandestine breeding and illegal animal trade networks", commented Yavor Guetchev.
Breeding purebred dogs, a lucrative business
Many countries of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Slovakia, Hungary or Bulgaria, have made a specialty of breeding purebred dogs, which are then sold in Western Europe, a "lucrative business" , according to M. Guetchev.
In Norway, the purchase price of a chihuahua is ten times higher than in Bulgaria where in parallel with legal international trade, trafficking is numerous and weaning dates frequently tampered with to supply the market with younger puppies.
Raya's misadventures are reminiscent of those of the Penka cow, who became famous after inadvertently crossing the Serbian border last May.
Having left the European Union, she risked slaughtering, but got out thanks to a solidarity campaign in which British singer Paul McCartney participated.