Today should be in mourning for the approval, last Thursday, February 9, in Congress, of the now called “Law for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Animals”.

• Should be in mourning for the millions of specimens belonging to the multitude of endangered species that we breed in Spain and that will no longer be able to contribute to the conservation of their species.

• Should be in mourning for the wild populations of these species, because the lack of specimens born in captivity will again boost their illegal capture and trafficking.

• Should be in mourning for the more than likely massive abandonment of a multitude of species that are going to be released into the wild for fear of reprisals from this law.

• Should be in mourning for the noble activity of breeding, now criminalized, which has contributed so much knowledge to science and the conservation of endangered species.

• Should be in mourning for the thousands of breeders who will be forced to close our business, see our animals confiscated or be forced to keep them sine die without being able to reproduce them or sell their chicks.

• Should be in mourning for all those people who are going to be treated as criminals, as traffickers, for the simple fact that in their family there is some unconventional member, for the simple fact of loving an exotic animal.

• Should be in mourning for all the children who will no longer have the opportunity to be enriched as responsible and sensitive people, thanks to the experience of the reproduction of their companion animals.

• Should be in mourning for the pet trade; if the breeding of these animals is penalized, they will gradually see their activity become extinct.

• Should be in mourning for veterinary centers, especially those specializing in exotics, because they will progressively run out of animals to care for.

• Should be in mourning for manufacturers of animal food, supplements and other items. In short, their business viability will depend solely on their ability to export.

• Should be in mourning for the thousands of jobs that will be lost.

• Should be mourning the excessive interventionism of the state and the loss of people’s freedoms, under the excuse of an animal rights law.

Should be in mourning for all these reasons. But no, there is no point in mourning, I am going to constructively channel all the anger that this law provokes in me.

I cannot accept that the citizens of Spain are in the majority in agreement with this barbarity. Nor do I want to take it for granted that all the deputies who voted in favor of this law were aware of the harmful repercussions that will result from its application. I would like to think that there was a lack of knowledge on their part.

Friends, there are many of us who love animals. There are many of us who cannot imagine a world in which we cannot live with them. They are part of our families, of our way of understanding life, of our way of living.

We have to make society as a whole see the mass extermination that is about to take place. We have to show our politicians the unpopularity of this law. We have to react and mobilize. We have to give this issue the visibility that is not being given to it in the media.

Together we can reverse the situation. We are millions of citizens outraged by what is happening. We must act together. That is our strength.

The FAUNA Federation will coordinate all actions to be carried out.

I invite you to join the FAUNA Federation, to support the campaign tagged with the hashtag #exoticosperofamiliares and to collaborate with the initiatives that will soon be proposed.

As for me, the Psittacus Foundation will continue to support FAUNA and our sector as a whole.

MOVE!

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!