The Council has unanimously approved a agreement to promote Animal Welfare which, among other things, establishes the commitment to promote an agreement with the College of Veterinarians to implement concrete measures to combat the mistreatment of pets on the Island.
The CC-PNC group has seen an agreement of all the groups in the Insular Corporation come true. The proposal was defended by the nationalist councilor Antolín Bueno, who shows his satisfaction with the measure, “since our initiative gave a comprehensive treatment to a problem that affects the entire island.” Good value, despite everything, the “achievement of establishing an agreement with the Official College of Veterinarians for the implementation of measures that reduce the mistreatment of animals at a concrete and real level ”.
Among those measures to take are microchip identification, sterilization or education and awareness campaigns for the population.
Also, Bueno points out the commitment of the nationalist training “to achieve zero sacrifice in all the shelters of Tenerife” and that the Insular Territorial Emergency Plan (PEIN) and the Municipal Emergency Plans “contemplate a specific protocol when the nature of the risk or its possible evolution affects the animals collectively, endangering their lives “, values Bueno.
The proponent claims to have “a bittersweet taste because there are proposals that the PSOE and Ciudadanos government group, with the support of Sí Podemos Canarias, has not wanted to approve the creation of an Insular Network of Animal Shelters, grant aid for the municipal and private that are having a hard time with the crisis or the creation of other specific ones for cats.
They are demands that, he adds, “the groups have sent us, but have not been approved by the government group.”
Likewise, the director of CC indicates that «Our intention was also to extend the hours of the Tierra Blanca Refuge (in Fasnia) so that the volunteers could go after 4:00 pm, but they did not accept this proposal.
Good sums up: “I think it is a mistake because there are people who do not have the possibility to attend in the morning and who want to dedicate their time to the animals and in this way they are prevented from doing so.” And he sentence: “For us, volunteering plays a fundamental role in animal welfare.”
Other rejected proposals by the government group were the development of an insular ordinance for the collection of animals and establish a framework of collaboration with the municipalities for the CER project (Capture, Sterilization and Return) for the control of animals. “We understand that this is essential for animal welfare in Tenerife, but they have not wanted to approve it,” he says.
The agreement also promotes the transformation of the Tierra Blanca and El Ravelo Refuges so that they have a housing space specifically for abandoned companion animals so that they can later be given up for adoption. The motion also contemplates the regular convocation of the Insular Council of Animal Welfare and the incorporation of the Santa Cruz Bar Association – where there is a special commission – and representatives of ATAN (Tinerfeña Association of Friends of Nature) and the Ecology group and Evolution in Islands (GEEI) of the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology
Another agreement approved in the motion is to urge the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (FECAM) to initiate a line of work for the constitution of an Insular Consortium for Animal Welfare.
Alson has gone ahead to articulate the mechanisms of collaboration, coordination and protection, according to their scope of competence, between the State Security Forces and Corps, General Corps of the Canarian Police and Local Police, in the face of facts or complaints that could constitute an alleged case of animal abuse, either ex officio or due to a complaint from individuals.
Finally, the regional government is urged to complete the processing of the preliminary draft of the Law for the protection and keeping of companion animals in the Canary Islands.
‘Thor’, the last case of abuse
The dog Thor has been the involuntary protagonist of the last known episode of cruelty to animals in Tenerife. ORn video recorded in Bajamar (La Laguna) showed how his previous owner hit him with a stick and it went viral. The case will reach the Prosecutor’s Office. The events occurred on November 29 and were reported by the Local Police of Aguere, whose Ecological Unit went to the place on that date to check the condition of the dog. Thor is already in a new home that has been enabled by an animal shelter. His case has raised an important echo on social networks.
