Sofia, 1 October 2026 — Members of Parliament from all parliamentary groups in the 52nd National Assembly today introduced a bill to ban the keeping, breeding and killing of animals for the purpose of obtaining fur in Bulgaria.
The bill is the result of years of work on the issue, during which Campaigns and Activism for Animals in the Industry (CAAI) has consistently called for a legal ban on this type of animal farming and has prepared legislative proposals, supporting arguments and an impact assessment. The fact that the initiative has received signatures from representatives of all parliamentary groups is particularly significant at a time of an active election campaign.
The proposal is therefore not associated with a single political force, but has received support across the entire parliamentary spectrum. “For us, this is a very important sign, and we are extremely grateful to all the MPs who signed this bill together. The campaign to end fur farms has continued through different parliaments, governments and political majorities. Today, we see a willingness for this issue to be addressed beyond party divisions,” said Petya Altimirska, Chair of CAAI.
The proposed legislation would ban the keeping, breeding and killing of animals solely for the purpose of producing fur, including mink, foxes, chinchillas, raccoon dogs and other species. It would not affect leather obtained as a by-product from animals raised for food, nor fur from legal hunting. There are currently no operating fur farms in Bulgaria.
In 2022, Environment Minister Borislav Sandov issued an order banning the breeding and import of American mink due to the species’ invasive nature. The last registered American mink farm, located near the village of Madzherito in Stara Zagora Province, with a capacity of more than 128,000 animals, ceased operations in 2025. However, there is still no statutory ban on farming animals for fur, meaning that such facilities could potentially be established again.
The introduction of such a ban has already been included in official state policy. The 2025–2034 Roadmap for Invasive Alien Species provides for an amendment to the Veterinary Medical Activities Act to ban the farming of animals for fur production, with the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food designated as the responsible institutions. CAAI has been working on the issue since 2017. In 2018, the organisation submitted a National Citizens’ Initiative to the National Assembly with more than 51,000 signatures in support of a ban.
In the following years, the issue was repeatedly raised with state institutions, while administrative and legal proceedings were also pursued against the farming of American mink in Bulgaria.
“Today, Bulgaria no longer has any operating fur farms. The next necessary step is to guarantee this by law, so that this inhumane business cannot be revived in the future. In this way, Bulgaria will join the large number of EU countries that have introduced such bans in the name of animal protection and the values of their citizens,” Altimirska added.
The bill will now be considered by the parliamentary committees before being put to a vote in the plenary chamber.
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Contacts and further information:
Petya Altimirska, Chair of CAAI
+359 895 760 754
CAAI website: https://caai.bg
In Bulgaria, CAAI initiated the National Citizens’ Initiative to ban fur production, which collected more than 51,000 signatures. CAAI was also one of the organisers of the European Citizens’ Initiative Fur Free Europe, which collected more than 1.5 million signatures from European citizens, including more than 70,000 from Bulgaria.
CAAI is a member of the Eurogroup for Animals and the Fur Free Alliance.
