Another warning for pet-owners

It's that time of year again: the days are longer, the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, the gardens are blooming, and the fruit and vegetables are showing that all that back-breaking effort since the Spring might have been worth it after all.

Along with the shoots, buds and nocturnal foxes, something else is stirring in the hidden depths of Bulgaria...the perennial Lesser-spotted Pet Poisoner.

Here in what we locals like to call "our village", where - and I mention it purely for context to be clear that we're not talking about some dying village -  even a tumble-down wreck to totally renovate costs considerably more than a brand-new luxury German SUV these days (and we have no shortage of those regularly and carelessly parked on the pavements and pedestrian crossings).

Notwithstanding its exclusive/upmarket status, deserved or not, the reports are again flooding our Facebook groups (like Welsh chapels we have several - one to belong to and a choice of others to be seen NOT to belong to 😎) about poisoned food (and water) being left out in the parks and wooded areas (including where the children play) or thrown over walls and fences into the manicured gardens. The only indication a pet-owner gets that it's happened is when the vomitting and mouth-frothing starts, or when Felix or Rover simply don't come home. The experience is soul-destroying, the vet bills are horrendous and the mortality-rate is close to 100%.

Our cats are safe - they are NEVER allowed out - but yet again I worry about the ferals we feed in our garden and which roam the surrounding forest and hiking paths, both among the poisoners' favoured targets.

So let me yet again sound my no doubt boringly-regular warning: BE CAREFUL - THE B****DS ARE OUT AND ABOUT AGAIN! Don't get complacent or think that "it doesn't/can't happen HERE in our friendly/peaceful village" - IT CAN!

If you're wondering, the answer is "rat poison and/or anti-freeze".