Abandoned pets find haven

[CShine]

BARCELONA, SPAIN – Jan. 3, 2003, was Lito's day of reprieve. Abandoned by his owners, the spaniel mix with caramel-colored ears was delivered to a sprawling urban animal shelter where the air is acrid and the noise deafening. Anywhere else in the world, Lito's story would end here; after a week awaiting retrieval or adoption (unlikely, given his age), he would have been destroyed. But Lito lives in Barcelona, and on the day he reached the shelter, the city implemented the Law for Animal Protection, an unmatched ordinance that forbids euthanizing abandoned pets.

For a decade now, Barcelona has been an innovator in design, food, and architecture. In the past 18 months, it has also led the way in animal rights. Since January 2003, the city has kept alive the great majority of dogs and cats retrieved by animal protection agents or abandoned at shelters. And last June, legislators from Barcelona helped pass a comprehensive Law of Animal Protection for the entire region of Catalonia, which prohibits declawing, pigeon shooting, and selling animals to minors.

That law also makes Catalonia the only European government above the municipal level to ban euthanasia as a means of animal control. Although the European Commission has approved measures that prohibit abandoning pets and that seek to assure the well-being of domestic animals, the provisions are broad and implemented unevenly. As Jonathan Owen, spokesman for the London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals, notes, one of his organization's biggest challenges is simply getting some countries to employ humane methods of euthanasia.

Although the Law for Animal Protection does not take effect for all of Catalonia until 2007, some of the region's cities have independently passed legislation to protect animals. The coastal town of Mataró, for instance, enacted its own no-kill law after a photographer published images of the city-contracted animal control group inhumanely destroying unwanted dogs. Both to limit the damage to its image and to enact genuine change, public health officials in Mataró sought the help of the Altarriba Foundation, an animal protection group. Altarriba assumed control of the town's shelter and immediately stopped euthanizing animals.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0623/p15s02-woeu.html

[MasonJar]

1. Thanks for sharing this truly heartwarming account. We need

more good news in this hideous world.

[Gloria]

2. KICK---for the animals....

I have begged and harangued local animal control for weeks over a dog down the street!
I just can't tolerate people who abuse or abandon their pets....the innocents, at the mercy of so many rotten people.

Hats off to Barcelona!!!

[Pale_Rider]

3. Having adopted a 7-year german shepherd/akita mix ...

... who is both lovable and a rouge character, this definitely needs a kick!

:kick:

[happynewyear]

4. Power to the animals!

<< And last June, legislators from Barcelona helped pass a comprehensive Law of Animal Protection for the entire region of Catalonia, which prohibits declawing, pigeon shooting, and selling animals to minors. >>

I commend this aspect of what they are doing particularly. There are far too many fat assed Americans that "adopt" animals and permanently disfigure/disable them by acts such as declawing to save some old piece of junk sofa, etc. :grr:

Pure selfishness!

No kill shelters are scant. Finding people to adopt the animals from these shelters can be very difficult because the animals have often been abused/tortured, etc.

However, if you take the plunge and try, they can be the best animals you may have ever owned if you are willing to try.

We need a world filled with these types of humanitarian/animal rights and protection laws and organizations.

I am very glad to see that Spain realizes this need! Kudos to Spain! :toast:

[Matilda]

5. I'm glad to read this - some good news for a change.

Now, if they would just ban bullfighting ......

[meow2u3]

6. Viva Barcelona

First Barcelona, then Spain, and next, we hope, the world!

A victory for animals, who are as much God's creatures as we humans are!

[Robin Hood]

7. I hope that the States do the same for our four legged buddies.

The way that we treat animals in this country is cruel and unusual. owners need to be held more accountable for how they tyreat their pets. Cruelty to animals should have the same penalties as cruelty to humans. A viable life is a viable life.

[demgrrrll]

11. Two of our last cats just started living in our backyard and eventually

moved in. Snidely was feral and a biter at first. He was my cat Joseph's life long companion. When Joseph died Snide reverted to his previous feral behavior and starved himself. We tried tube feeding but he did not want to stay without Joseph. Squidford is a sweet boy He just moved in. He is so loving. I don't know where these cats come from. We live in suburbia. I always contact the humane society and the apa and the ads but I didn't find owners in either case. We have another rescue, Iris. She is a bit of a curmudgeon. I believe in adopting rescued pets.

[mike1963]

8. It's a shame that story can't be repeated in other places. I live in

a county with ZERO "animal control" procedures. It's a lakeside community, where people from the 'big town' (Tulsa) bring their unwanted pets and dump them out thinking someone will take them in. And that does happen...often (we have 2 dogs and a cat that were summarily "dropped off.")

Almost everyone who lives in this area has "adopted" one or more of these unfortunate critters, but there's a limit on how many we can house and feed. As a result, most of them end up starving, as road-kill or simply being shot by local residents as they turn semi-wild in the desperate search for sustenance. We have, I'm almost ashamed to admit, shot several in our own desperation to find a better alternative to starvation. There seems to be enough money to build a 7 million dollar jail for humans, but nothing to help the helpless canines, felines etc. Priorities, you know...

[happynewyear]

9. yeah and enough for a $59,000,000 funeral

for just one dead ass ....

[DemoTex]

10. Meanwhile, God smiles.

His animals are safe in that town in Spain. We love our two pound-hounds like children. Nick-Nick and Sirius. Lucky dogs. Lucky us.

[dusty64]

12. Kick.

:kick:

[Piperay]

13. WONDERFUL...

I love animals and can't stand it when they suffer, this is a nice break from that. :thumbsup:

[gatlingforme]

14. I LOVE IT!!! I love animals and it's nice to read a story like this

Thank you for this, you made my day...:*