No joke:
Pregnant 'illegal immigrant' cow is to be executed after wandering over EU border between Bulgaria and Serbia* Penka, a pregnant red cow, crossed into non-EU Serbia from her farm in Bulgaria
* The cow did not have the correct documentation at the time of the crossing
* Penka was given a clean bill of health by Serbian vets but won't be allowed to live
* Bulgarian officials plan to put Penka down after she crossed back illegally
A cow that escaped her Bulgarian farm and wandered across the border out of the EU is to be put down over safety fears.
Penka, a pregnant red cow who is due in around three months' time, wandered westwards away from her herd near the village of Kopilovtsi, straying over the border into non-EU Serbia.
Two weeks later she was returned to her owner Ivan Haralampiev by a farmer over the frontier.
However, Bulgarian officials said the animal must be put down because of strict EU rules.
Penka will now be executed because she didn't have the proper paperwork - despite being given a clean bill of health by Serbian vets.
'She had left the borders of the EU' and cannot be imported back into the European Union,' Haralampiev told public BNT television Thursday as he pleaded for his cow to be saved.
'A vet comes and orders it to be immediately culled!'
The farmer also lamented how the cow was able to saunter over the border unchecked in the first place.
'How come nobody attempted to stop it?' he said.
Although Serbian vets have written a statement saying Penka was in a perfect condition and fit to return home, Bulgarian authorities said she should be put down without delay.
Officials said it was not in their powers to save Penka from the EU regulations.
'It is not for us to decide. We are only implementing rules that come from Brussels,' vet expert Lyubomir Lyubomirov said.
According to the European Comission's guidelines for transporting bovine animals across borders, cows like Penka are required to be presented at border checkpoints with documentation verifying they are healthy.
Official EU guidelines state: 'Bovine animals being presented for entry into the EU must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate.
'An official veterinarian in the authorised non-EU country must sign the certificate to attest that all the relevant conditions in the certificate have been met.
'The certification must accompany the animals en-route to the EU and when they are presented for entry into the EU at an approved EU Border Inspection Post.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5791713/Illegal-immigrant-cow-executed-wandering-EU-border-Bulgaria-Serbia.html
