The Spanish Government has said that it “will work on and advance” a change in the law on animal cruelty, after the outcry following the shocking death of the street dog Timple last month.
The National Association for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (ANPBA) wrote to President Pedro Sánchez following the incident, requesting that the existing laws be broadened “An advanced society has the moral duty to protect these living beings in an efficient and dissuasive manner, given their condition as easy victims of lack of compassion.”
The presidential department of the Spanish government responded by saying “The Executive fully shares your wish to end any possible situation of animal abuse that may exist in this country.”
The Presidency pointed out that it has already proposed the framework for a draft law that would govern animal welfare in all of Spain’s autonomous communities, although it will be up to each of the seventeen communities to enact the law.
“Rest assured that this work will be carried out and that progress will be made in a special way on this issue,” the Presidency concluded.
There is no indication that the response owes anything to the presence of Sánchez and his family on Lanzarote while the Timple affair has played out in the press and on social media. However, the incident took place just a few kilometres from the place at Las Maretas where he is staying, and has had repercussions far beyond the island of Lanzarote.
In May, vice-president Pablo Iglesias, whose Podemos party are in charge of the animal rights department in government, announced that the new law would be ready “within months”. He highlighted that, among other measures, the law would penalise the abandonment of animals, “eliminate the feeling of impunity” that exists in regard to animal abuse and provide regional and local authorities with mechanisms to put an end to “this scourge”-.
A demonstration to change the law inspired by the case of Timple will take place at 7pm on Monday 17th in front of the old Cabildo building (la Casa Amarilla) in Arrecife’s Calle Real. Anyone who attends is requested to wear masks and observe distancing.
