> LONDON (Reuters) - Less than two years after European
> human rights were incorporated into British law, steps
> are under way to give pets their own "bill of rights"
> aimed at guaranteeing them a minimum quality of life.
[Good Luck!]
Spain under fire for hanging dogs Monday, 29 April, 2002, 00:34 GMT 01:34 UK
By Flora Botsford BBC correspondent in Madrid
Animal rights campaigners have criticised Spain for what it says is the widespread practice of killing hunting dogs. The World Society for the Protection of Animals says tens of thousands of Spanish racing dogs, known as galgos, are hanged every year following the end of the hunting season. The WSPA says it found dead dogs with nooses around their necks dumped in shallow graves or their corpses left hanging from trees. According to the charity, dogs that did badly in the hunting season were hanged with a low noose.
Faster death
The practice was known as the "piano player" because the dogs would frantically scrabble their legs in an effort to reach the ground. Dogs which had hunted well were given a faster death by being hanged higher up. A spokesman for the charity said it was scandalous that Spain, which holds the current presidency of the European Union, should allow such cruelty and abuse of animals. The WSPA has written to the Spanish Government, calling on it to finally adopt an animal welfare law that would outlaw such cruelty.
Mutilated dogs
Just last week a group of MPs and animal rights campaigners managed to win a debate in parliament on the issue but they lost the vote on changing the penal code to make cruelty to animals a crime punishable by a prison sentence. The campaign was prompted by the discovery of 15 mutilated dogs in the district of Tarragona in November last year. A Spanish animal welfare organisation, Altarriba Foundation, collected 600,000 signatures supporting a change in the law. But in Spain the whole concept of animal rights has yet to make an impact on society. For example, the national fiesta or bullfighting remains popular, although there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that younger people are less in favour.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1956000/1956951.stm
[the BBC radio report late last night described campfires and scores of empty beer bottles surrounding the "execution sites", implying that the hunters probably sat around and made merry while the dogs struggled and died]
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/ dave /