Sign our petition! for a municipal mass neutering programme for the street cats in Varna!

 Number of street cats in Varna in 2016* 

 2008 

 Number of street cats in Varna in 2024* 

 23 053 

 *according to official estimates by Varna Municipality 

 WE NEED A MUNICIPAL MASS NEUTERING PROGRAMME FOR STREET CATS IN VARNA 

There are 23,053 street cats in Varna, and the municipality estimates that the street cat population has been growing by 85% every two years. There are not enough care-takers and resources for so many cats. There are cats dying of viruses, poisoning, and traffic accidents every day. There is a street cat CRISIS!

Legally, the responsibility for the street cats lies with the municipality of Varna. The municipal council needs to vote on and pass a by-law for a mass neutering programme, and the executive branch (the mayor and the municipal staff) need to implement it.

In 2025, the council finally approved a budget for a Municipal Campaign for Free Neutering of Street Cats in Varna Municipality for around 800 cats. We assisted the municipality in developing a plan for how this could be done, based on our survey of vets in Varna Municipality, and we provided technical assistance to vets that wanted to apply.

In January 2026, the campaign started, and more than 1000 street cats were neutered! There was huge demand from citizens to get their local street cats neutered for free, and as a results, the budget was fully spent within 3 months. This is a GREAT start for the street cats of Varna, but it will not stop the population from growing any further, and therefore cannot be considered a mass programme. Significant additional measures are required to prevent the street cat population from growing any further, thereby achieving a “management and reduction” in the population “though mass castration”, as stipulated by art. 40a, paragraph (1) of the Animal Protection Act.

Help us tell Varna Municipality that we need a MUNICIPAL MASS NEUTERING PROGRAMME for the stray cats in Varna.

If you believe, like us, that cats should not be suffering on the streets of Varna, please do something yourself! Here is what you can do:

  1. Tell a councillor in Varna that you want a mass neutering programme
  2. Sign our petition
  3. Volunteer to get a street cat neutered yourself! Use our detailed TNR (trap-neuter-return) guide that has step-by-step instructions
  4. Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages
  5. Talk to your friends and family about the street cat crisis
  6. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Be a responsible pet owner: adopt don’t shop, get your pet neutered and chipped, never abandon a pet

According to art. 56 and art. 40, paragraph (3), and art. 40a, paragraph (1) of the Animal Protection Act, in cases of observed increases in the population of street cats, municipal councils MUST introduce mass neutering programmes in order to achieve a “management and reduction” of the population of street cats.

The vets of Varna agree with the law: we asked 24 veterinary clinics to fill in a survey. In this survey, EVERY SINGLE VET stated that they support a municipal mass neutering programme in Varna. Read more about our survey here.

TNR (trap-neuter-return) is an internationally recognized method for reducing populations of street cats. Several studies (for example Nutter, 2005) have shown that neutered cats live significantly longer than intact cats.

It is absolutely crucial that every single pet parent in Varna takes measures to become a responsible pet owner right now, meaning: adopt don't shop, get your pet neutered, get your pet chipped, never abandon a pet. However, even if no further pets were abandoned and all pets were neutered right now, the population of street cats in Varna will continue growing at extremely fast rates. There are only two ways to tackle this problem: mass euthenasia (illegal, inhumane) or mass neutering (legal and humane).

That's why we are fighting for a mass neutering programme for street cats in Varna!