Demand an end to culling of street cats in Benalmadena, Spain

At the request of apartment/urbanization occupants, the authorities are culling the homeless cats of Benalmadena, Spain, including ones which have been neutered.

A lady by the name of Kelly Dooley spends all her spare time, as well as money donated by local residents, bar owners, people online, etc. trapping, neutering & then returning the cats. A large number of the cats, between 20 - 25 of them, are currently staying in Kelly's flat whilst she gets them the necessary veterinary care & tries to arrange fostering & adoption. She is doing everything she can to help these cats and find them homes, but meanwhile the government is intent on killing them all.

Pressure is needed to stop the authorities from sanctioning the killing of domestic animals that through no fault of their own — usually because they have been abandoned by their owners — have been left to wander the streets.

At the present time, other than a local charitable group called GAB (Grupo Animalista Benalmadena), there are no organisations in Spain to support people like Kelly & GAB in their work. There is no RSPCA, no PDSA, etc. Perhaps it is time the authorities in Benalmadena, Spain, considered providing some funding to assist Kelly & GAB in the important work they do to help the street cats.

There was some good news recently. In December 2019, the Mayor & Council of Benalmadena proposed & passed 'sacrificio cero, which meant Benalmadena became a municipality with zero sacrifice in animals. Unfortunately, this does not include homeless cats within urbanizations.

The killing of Benalmadena's homeless cats within urbanizations is decided by a vote! The residents within the urbanization are not happy with the cats being there, but do they try to help & protect these animals? No! They convened a committee meeting & instead of helping these animals, they decide to have them 'removed'. The President of the association contacts the administrator, who then contacts the town hall, which in turn contacts the 'killing station'.

The killing station will then put out traps to catch any poor animal that enters it. This is indiscriminate & quite often includes cats which have already been trapped, neutered & released back into the commumity by volunteers using the money donated by others. As the traps are left uncovered, it can result in an animal being trapped inside for up to 8 hours before being collected; that is 8 hours of being frightened, panicking, injury being caused because it is banging its head & body on the trap, desperate to escape. This procedure is inhumane & unethical. How can we stand by & watch another mammal suffer in such a horrific manner? And how can we allow them to be killed simply because they are an inconvenience?

The Government sees this solution as a benefit to the community; they believe it allows for a clean up of the feral cat population before holiday season hits. However, this is not a long term solution — a new community of feral cats will simply arrive in their place.

Unfortunately, the town hall regulations as they stand deny volunteers like Kelly & GAB the right to enter the urbanizations to trap, neuter & care for these animals. Surely it makes more sense to allow volunteers access to enable them to carry out these tasks? There should be controlled colonies, supported by officially identified carers, with the provision of official identity cards, so that proper care and attention can be given. This will allow the carers to provide food and water, arrange veterinary treatments etc without them being harassed or fined by the Police. 

The money paid by the government to support the killing station would be better used in financing trapping & neutering, rather than killing defenceless animals. The costs of paying for traps & the people who set & collect them are expensive, far more expensive than providing funds to allow volunteers, people who care about animals as much as humans, to trap these animals & arrange for them to be neutered, vaccinated, etc.

Remember, these animals are not there by choice, but because they have been abandoned by their 'loving' owners, to wander the streets & fend for themselves. Culling is a short term solution. For moral, ethical, and financial reasons the culling of feral cats should stop. NEUTERING IS THE SOLUTION - NOT CULLING

Please sign this petition to demand a change in Benalmadena, Spain, which is a large tourist resort frequented by thousands of British holidaymakers every year.

PETICION DE PROPIETARIOS DE VIVIENDAS EN URBANIZACIONES, LAS AUTORIDADES ESTAN MATANDO A LOS GATOS SIN HOGAR EN BENALMADENA, LA MAYORIA SON DE COLONIAS CONTROLADAS. UNA MUJER LLAMADA KELLY DOLLEY DEDICA SU TIEMPO LIBRE Y SU DINERO, AYUDADA TAMBIEN DE DONACIONES HECHAS POR BARES DE LA ZONA, RESIDENTES Y PERSONAS ANONIMAS QUE DONAN VIA INTERNET A COGER, CASTRAR Y DEVOLVER A LAZONA, GATOS ABANDONADOS EN LA CALLE, UN GRAN NUMERO DE ESTOS GATOS, ENTRE 20 Y 25 ESTAN EN LA CASA DE KELLY, MIENTRAS LOS PREPARA PARA ADOPCION O LES BUSCA CASAS DE ACOGIDA. ELLA ESTA HACIENDO TODO LO POSIBLE PARA ENCONTRAR CASAS PARA ESTOS ANIMALES MIENTRAS EL AYUNTAMIENTO SE DEDICA A MATARLOS. NECESITAMOS HACER PRESION PARA QUE EL AYUNTAMIENTO TERMINE CON ESTO, GATOS QUE NO TIENE CULPA DE HABER SIDO ABANDONADOS, NORMALMENTE POR SUS DUEÑOS Y NO HAN DE ESTAR EN LAS CALLES INTENTANDO SOBREVIVIR. HASTA AHORA, A PARTE DE UNA ASOCIACION LLAMADA GAB (GRUPO ANIMALISTA BENALMADENA) NO HAY ASOCIACIONES EN LA ZONA PARA AYUDAR A KELLY Y GAB CON SU TRABAJO. QUIZAS ES HORA DE QUE EL AUNTAMIENTO DE BENALMADENA (MALAGA) EMPIECEN A SUBVENCIONAR CON AYUDAS ECONOMICAS PARA EL TRABAJO TAN IMPORTANTE QUE REALIZAN CON LOS GATOS CALLEJEROS. EN DICIEMBRE DE 2018, EL ALCALDE Y EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE BENALMADENA APROBARON EL SACRIFICIO CERO, PERO NO SE CUMPLE CON GATOS ABANDONADOS EN URBANIZACIONES PRIVADAS. EL SACRFICIO DE ESTOS GATOS SIN HOGAR EN URBANIZACIONES PRIVADAS SE DECIDIO POR VOTACION DE LOS PROPIETARIOS DE LAS VIVIENDAS, LOS RESIDENTES NO ESTAN DE ACUERDO EN QUE LOS ANIMALES VIVAN ALLI, PERO HACEN ALGO AL RESPECTO? NO, SE REUNIERON, Y EN VEZ DE AYUDAR A ESTOS ANIMALES, DECIDEN QUE SE LOS LLEVEN. EL PRESIDENTE CONTACTA CON LA ADMINISTRACION, QUIEN CONTACTA CON EL AYUNTAMIENTO, EL CUAL CONTACTA CON LA PERRERA. ESTE ULTIMO, PONE JAULAS TRAMPAS Y SE LLEVAN A CUALQUIER GATO QUE ENTRE, YA SEA LA MASCOTA DE UN VECINO O GATOS CASTRADOS, DESPARASITADOS Y CON SU CORTE EN LA OREJA, PAGADO CON EL DINERO DE PERSONAS PARTICULARES. CUANDO EL ANIMAL ENTRA EN LA JAULA, PUEDEN PASAR HORAS Y HORAS HASTA QUE VENGAN A RECOGERLO, ALLI EL ANIMAL SE GOLPEA CONTRA LA JAULA INTENTANDO ESCAPAR, NERVIOSO Y EN ESTADO DE PANICO. ESTE PROCEDIMIENTO ES INHUMANO. COMO PODEMOS CONSENTIR ESTAS SITUACIONES? COMO PODEMOS VER ANIMALES SUFRIENDO DE ESTA MANERA TAN CRUEL? Y COMO SE PUEDE PERMITIR QUE LOS MATEN SOLO PORQUE MOLESTAN A ALGUNOS VECINOS? EL AYUNTAMIENTO VE ESTA SOLUCION COMO UN BENEFICIO, HACEN UNA LIMPIEZA DE GATOS ABANDONADOS ANTES DE QUE DE COMIENZO LA TEMPORADA DE TURISTAS. ESTO NO ES UNA SOLUCION, LLEGARAN OTROS GATOS ABANDONADOS A QUEDARSE EN LA ZONA. A DIA DE HOY, EL AYUNTAMIENTO NO PERMITE A PERSONAS COMO KELLY O A LA ASOCIACION GAB EL ACCESO A ESTAS URBANIZACIONES PRIVADAS PARA COGER LOS GATOS, TRATARLOS, CASTRARLOS Y DEVOLVERLOS, Y ALIMENTARLOS EN LA ZONA, TENDRIA MAS SENTIDO PERMITIR QUE VOLUNTARIOS HAGAN ESTE TRABAJO? EL DINERO GASTADO POR EL AYUNTAMIENTO PARA PAGAR A LA PERRERA PARA ESTO SERIA MAS UTIL SI SE UTILIZARA PARA COGER, ESTERELIZAR Y SOLTAR A ESTOS GATOS (METODO CES) Y NO MATARLOS. EL COSTE DE LAS JAULAS Y PAGAR A UNA EMPRESA QUE HAGA ESTO ES MAS CARO QUE SUUBVENCIONAR A VOLUNTARIOS PARA QUE SE ENCARGUEN DEL BIENESTAR DE ESTOS GATOS. RECUERDA QUE ESTOS GATOS NO ESTAN EN ESTA SITUACION POR PETICION PROPIA, HAN SIDO ABANDONADOS POR UNOS DUEÑOS IRRESPONSABLES, Y HAN DE BUSCARSE LA VIDA EN LAS CALLES. MATARLOS NO ES LA SOLUCION. POR MOTIVOS MORALES, ETICOS Y FINANCIEROS LA MUERTE DE LOS GATOS CALLEJEROS HA DE PARAR. LA SOLUCION ES CASTRAR Y NO MATAR. FIRMA ESTA PETICION PARA EXIGIR UN CAMBIO EN BENALMADENA, MALAGA, QUE ES UNA ZONA TURISTICA DONDE VIENEN MILES DE EXTRANJEROS A LO LARGO DEL AÑO