For a number of years there has been signals from tourists in Borovets about a dog on a chain by the church. The dog actually has a long running chain and a little shed and the owner works at the church. The dog is called Pandora.

By relative standards here she is fairly well looked after. However, earlier this year the dog appeared to be un-well. Eventually the owners permission was granted to take the dog for a consultation and tests in Sofia. It was found she had a hernia and issue with her bladder. She also has a tumour on her jaw which it was decided was better left and not operated on. She was spayed at the same time.

Unfortunately the people that organised this do not live locally and two or three weeks ago, we were again contacted by tourists who were concerned about her. We visited then and she seemed ok and the tumour the same as it has been previously.

However a couple of days ago the owner had contacted the other people and said the dog had swelling on her jaw.

So a few days ago I visited the dog and it did appear to have a large swelling on the right hand side of its jaw. The next day we took the local vet up to examine her and it was deemed she had an abscess. She was given antibiotics and cortisone injection and we delivered more tablets and cream to the owner. It is hoped the abscess will burst on its own in a few days.

We shall check on her at the start of next week. 

UPDATE: Pandora unfortunately died during the summer of 2018. She developed further medical issues and despite local dog rescuers taking her to a clinic and getting her veterinary care, she passed away. 

The situation with stray dogs in the Samokov region continues to be desperate.