EU officials are planning to execute a female cow after it strayed from Bulgaria into neighbouring Serbia, which is a non-EU member state.

Red cow Penka wandered away from the herd near the Bulgarian village of Kopilovtsi, straying over a border checkpoint into non-EU Serbia.

But after the cow was returned to its owner Ivan Haralampiev by a farmer over the frontier, Bulgarian officials said the animal must be put down because of strict EU rules - despite being given a clean bill of health by Serbian vets.

We, the signatories of this petition, urge the EU to make an exception on compassionate grounds for Penka and not execute her. 

We believe that Penka's case reflects a lack of compassion on the part of EU officialdom for everyday people, such as Penka's owner, who is absolutely distraught.