D. Mariano Fernandez Bernejo                                                             Your address
Ministro de Justicia
San Bernardo, 45 - 28071 Madrid
Fax: 91 390 22 77
e-mail: ministro@mju.es

D. José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
Presidente del Gobierno
Complejo de la Moncloa - 28071 Madrid
Fax: 91 390 02 17
e-mail: JMaznar@presidencia.gob.es

Dear Prime Minister / Minister of Justice,

Spain: Eternal Holocaust for Animals

I understand that in the newly reformed Penal Code the mistreatment of domestic animals will become a criminal offence. While welcoming this initiative, I would like to know more about the scope of the proposed legislation.

Will mistreatment include keeping a dog chained for the whole of its life?

Will mistreatment include abandoning a pet?

Will mistreatment include depriving a dog that is ill or dying, of veterinary treatment, water and food?

Will mistreatment include keeping a dog together with dozens of other dogs that are tearing one another to pieces because they are locked in an overcrowded cage in the so-called ‘realas’?

In your opinion, does mistreatment include euthanasing an animal with a substance that produces slow and painful death by suffocation without administering any kind of anaesthetic - even though this is considered unethical and cruel in other countries?

In your opinion, does mistreatment include forcing thousands of dogs employed in sport and hunting to endure harsh conditions, only to be abandoned, hanged or put to death in some equally cruel and brutal manner once they are no longer of use to their owners?

It is my opinion that a change in the Penal Code is needed NOW so that ANY MISTREATMENT OF ANIMALS will be A CRIMINAL OFFENCE.

In order to prevent loopholes and ambiguities in the law, the process for reforming the Penal Code should involve animal welfare societies and the new law should be the result of a consensus, as these societies have repeatedly suggested to the Ministry of Justice. The law, or the regulations arising from the law, must define clearly and with no need for further interpretation, the official bodies responsible for ensuring that the law is applied and obeyed and must empower them to take all the necessary steps to do so. These bodies must have the necessary powers to inspect and regulate the way in which animals live and die in dog pounds, refuges and kennel complexes, whether these be public or private property, and to start legal proceedings on their own initiative, without the need for a formal complaint from third parties, in order to ensure that offenders are punished.

I must remind you that Spain has one of the worst records in Europe for animal protection and that countries such as France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Switzerland punish the mistreatment of animals with up to one year’s imprisonment.

I would like to know your own personal opinion on this matter and also the conclusions of your Ministry’s advisory committee.

Yours faithfully,

(First name, family name)