Elena Gocmen Rueda
MORE than 40 cities across Spain hosted mass demonstrations against hunting.
The protests, called every year by the ‘Plataforma No A la Caza’ (NAC), brought together more than 200 associations in defence of animal rights.
Thousands of people and their dogs took to the streets all over the country to demand an end to hunting and the exploitation of dogs for this purpose.
The demonstrations coincided with the end of the greyhound hunting season and with an eye on the Animal Welfare Law, which has been in force for a month.
This law considers domestic pets as ‘sentient beings’ and leaves out hunting dogs.
Many protesters say that this has been due to pressure from the hunting industry and consider that these animals should be given even greater protection.
According to the NAC, February is a ‘particularly critical month as it coincides with the end of the greyhound hunting season’.
According to the Animal Rights associations, around 50,000 greyhounds are ‘discarded’ every year.
To this figure should be added other breeds also used for hunting, such as hounds, setters, pointers, etc.
The demonstration in Malaga has been joined by an association in charge of the welfare of Sierra Bermeja, an area that suffered last September when almost 10, 000 hectares were burned in a wildfire..
Ecologistas en Accion – SB has registered a complaint to the Junta against the organisation of a hunting trip in the private hunting reserve ‘Cortijo Nicola’, on the eastern edge of this area.
Wild boar and sheep will be targeted. Neither species is protected.
In Madrid, people and dogs demonstrated in Gran Via with banners reading ‘Stop Hunting’, ‘No more executions for fun’ and ‘bullfighting and hunting: abolition’.
The demonstrations were repeated in other places such as Barcelona, Cordoba, Cuenca, Valencia, A Coruña, Castellon, and Logroño.
There has also been international support in Leuven (Belgium), The Hague (Holland), Cologne (Germany), Bologna (Italy) and Perpignan (France).
The NAC platform is made up of more than 200 associations that demand an end to hunting and the exploitation of dogs for this purpose.
READ MORE:
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