National
Allegations of animal cruelty in Spain
By h.b.
Feb 28, 2008 - 7:24 PM

The Partido Popular youth section, ‘Nuevas Generaciones’ has decided to expel two of the party’s candidates on the local election lists in Talavera de la Reina, in Toledo.

Jaime Ferrero and Carlos Vázquez were photographed grinning from ear to ear after having killed at least six cats, with the image appearing on a social site on the Internet. A member of the public decided to alert an animal protection association which has now placed a denuncia against the two men. Article 337 of the penal code means that those who ill-treat animals and show doing so unjustifiably can face upto three years in prison.

It comes as another charity, ‘Igualdad Animal’, has denounced what it describes as torture in some of the abattoirs in Spain.
They allege that animals earmarked for slaughter often face days without food and some cattle suffer greatly before death. On the webpage www.mataderos.info the charity also shows rabbits being given an electric shock ahead of having their throats cut. They show videos of alleged illegal practice against cattle, lambs, rabbits and pigs in abattoirs in the Valencia region.

The Spanish meat industry has denied that animals suffer pain when killed. A spokesman for the Meat Industry Association in Spain, claimed that for food chain reasons the meat industry was one of the most controlled.