Sofia enjoys a day free of cars.

Some of Sofia's finest chauffeurs and intellectuals feed the pigeons while enjoying Car Free Day.  

What a nice day today as cars got kicked out of Sofia City Centre for a few hours and pedestrians and cyclists reclaimed the streets, at least for a while.

Distressed hordes of Mercedes and Cabriolet drivers were being treated in local hospitals for depression and shock and the city's beloved mutri retired to the city parks to read poetry and philosophy and to feed the birds (winged variety). Ever vigilant traffic police kept a watchful eye on the city's junctions to ensure compliance with the ban. They did appear a little uneasy at the prospect of having to buy their own lunch for a change.

What a pleasant experience to be able to walk the city streets without having to fear for your life. Here's to next year's Car Free Day. Or why not make it a week?!

Two more years.....?

Yordanka Fandakova has promised to rid Sofia of half it's stray dogs if she is re-elected in the forthcoming mayoral elections. This is good news. The only question is what has she been doing about the stray dog problem during the last two years of her tenure? While past performance is no guarantee of future performance (in this case let's hope not), we are not filled with any sense of optimism by Fandakova's latest promise. Let's hope her bite is a little more impressive than her bark?

Yordanka also said that stray dogs represented one of Sofia's greatest problems. Well, you could have fooled me! I might have been wrong, but I thought the murder of Yana Krateva in the dimly lit Borisova Gradina Park would have ranked pretty high on her list of Sofia's problems. Or perhaps the abysmal state of some of Sofia's parks (take a stroll around the public urinal that is the Doctor's Garden monument for example) should be an embarrassment for any city. Better still, try take a stroll on any of Sofia's third world footpaths if you are feeling adventurous or, if you really want to test your patience, try it with a child's buggy. Should be an Olympic event, if you ask me.

The abysmal failure of the city to promote Sofia as a significant European weekend tourist destination obviously does not feature on the Mayor's radar either. Well.....it should. Sofia is a city which is unwelcoming and intolerant of foreign tourists (only one tourist information centre buried deep in a subway well out of harm's way? And while I'm on the subject why is the very same information centre promoting Serbia as a tourist destination?).

By the time Sofia's hapless tourists navigate the non existent pedestrianised streets, the 2 metre deep potholes, crazy paving, dog shit, poorly lit streets and the beautiful black and white traffic bollards which adorn every street they must be exhausted and probably seriously injured! As they make their way to the airport they can still look forward to being ripped-off by one of the city's cheeky-chappy taxi drivers.

But at least they don't have to cycle on the non-existent cycleways and dice with death with Sofia's psychopathic Mercedes drivers while the ever vigilant and overweight KAT officers grab a coffee and doughnut at the nearest OMV. Nor, presumably, do they have to wait for 7 weeks for hot water while Sofia Water continue to mis-manage the supply of water to the city. We could also mention the C word (no, not that C!) but what's the point?

We look forward to another two years of the current Mayor. At least, when she leaves, the stray dog population will be back to where it was when she first came to power!

Sofia's gone to the Dogs

Street dogs in Sofia have been an intractable problem for many years. They are an emotive subject and the debate is polarised. I know where I stand.

My son recently visited with us. He arrived on a late and pleasant May evening. Sofia was looking its best and we were looking forward to a pleasant and enjoyable stay.

It was about 11.00 pm when I pulled up outside our apartment. we live in a nice leafy Sofia street. As I opened my car door my eyes were diverted by the rush of at least 20, very large street dogs. They were focusing their attention on something and were ruthlessly trying to tear it apart. They were in a frenzy and it was a savage attack.

I reached inside my car and grabbed the first thing that came to hand (a bottle of window washer) and threw it at them. Surprisingly they ran. Afterwards I thought how stupid I had been. Adults and children have been attacked here, some fatally and it was a stupid thing to do.

As the dogs ran it became clear what it was they were attacking. A small cat was left on the road. It looked as if its back was broken and it lay there helplessly. I called my local vet but he wasn't in town. The miserable, terrified cat died a few minutes later. My son and my daughter looked on and were obviously upset at what had happened.  This was my son's first introduction to Sofia, a pack of wild dogs tearing a cat from limb to limb.  Needless to say he gave dogs a wide berth during his stay. Nevertheless he had a great time here and has good memories of his stay.

I am a dog owner and I love dogs. But nothing gets to me more when the loony animal welfarists start to whine. Street dogs are a huge problem and a huge cost. They have killed and maimed humans and other animals (rather famously they attacked and killed a number of deer in Sofia Zoo). Millions of euro are being spent on useless sterilisation programs. Recently the Director in charge was fired for being ineffective and other irregularities. All this in a city which is incapable of providing even a half decent health system for the old and homeless.

The solution is clear. Sofia needs to rid itself of its wild street dogs through a humane scheme of animal  euthanasia. Pets are pets but pests are pests.