When Teresa Almagro, a nurse and who has seen it all, visited the facilities of the Chiclana Animal Protection Center (Cádiz) last year, she had to take an anti-anxiety pill. He saw animals crammed into refrigerators, dogs tied with one-meter ropes, feeders full of worms, cats full of wounds, without strength.
His public complaint led the Seprona of the Civil Guard to go there a few months later and open a case against the company Athisa, to which the Community of Municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz had again obtained the concession despite all previous alerts. It was in April. Today, the same Commonwealth announced that it was seizing the concession. A final report detected serious irregularities and it will be the municipalities which will temporarily manage this place.
Teresa Almagro is part of the Fearless Platform, created by residents of the Bay of Cádiz, who are very concerned about the treatment of these abandoned animals, who ended up there for various reasons. This area of the province of Cádiz has not done very well in caring for these homeless animals. Before that of Chiclana, El Refugio operated in Puerto Real, which was closed by the courts in an unprecedented judgment in Spain, in which, for the first time, the closure of an establishment of this type was ordered due to the mistreatment inflicted. against animals.
Those responsible were ultimately sentenced to three months in prison for subjecting the animals to an “agonizing and unbearable” death. This place became known as the “Kennel of Horrors”.
Renewed despite complaints
It was replaced some time later by the Chiclana Animal Protection Center, launched by the Community of Municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Cádiz, Puerto Real, Chiclana and San Fernando), whose management was entrusted to the company Athisa Medio Ambiente SAU. The service includes the collection and management of abandoned animals from the four municipalities, with an average reception of 185 animals per month, which the concessionaire undertakes to take care of, provide health care and find them a home. The center does not sacrifice within a certain time frame like others, following the philosophy that “all animals are adoptable.”
It’s on paper because, immediately, the complaints started again, which led a group of neighbors to come together under the name of Platform Without Fear, who were able to visit these facilities in 2023, accumulate equally regrettable images, denounce serious irregularities and warn of the poor condition of the animals. “It’s a concentration camp for cats and dogs,” they summed up graphically.
But this name, nor the alerts issued by other environmental groups, did not prevent the Commonwealth, with the approval of municipal technicians from town halls, from renewing the award to Athisa, which formalized the contract on March 1 of This year. “It was a bucket of cold water,” explains María Camacho, of Platform Without Fear, “because we had the impression that they were not listening to us.”
The Commonwealth, a few weeks later, accepted a financial sanction against the company for minor offenses, of around 13,000 euros. Thus, the visits by veterinarians and technicians from each municipality, even if they revealed non-compliance and negligence in the facilities, did not prevent the continuation of the activity. Until now.
The organization, whose president is the municipal councilor of Puerto Millán Alegre, announced this week the radical decision to sequester the Athisa animal protection and collection service for six months. During this time, as the Commonwealth specifies, “management will be collegial by municipal technicians and veterinarians”.
Six months to correct the deficiencies
Why now and not before? Alegre explained this week in an interview with SER that “this file was opened due to serious non-compliances which emerge from a report from the management of the faculty which proposed the closure of the center”.
The closure cannot be carried out, he specifies, because it is a basic service which cannot be stopped, which is why the route of temporary sequestration of the concession was chosen. The service is being undertaken by the Commonwealth and the company will have six months to correct all these deficiencies so that the contract can continue.
The Intrepid Platform considers this decision as “a patch” and an incomplete measure, in addition to the fact that it arrives late. “We requested all the files and reports made since June and the Commonwealth refused them,” explained María Camacho.
“Since this company existed, the animals have been in terrible conditions, some have died of starvation or been found hanged,” he laments. This refusal to receive the reports was reported to the Andalusian Ombudsman, who forwarded it to the Transparency and Data Protection Council of Andalusia.
Since 2008, the municipalities of the Bay have been looking for a permanent place to take care of abandoned animals. The mayors of Cádiz and San Fernando announced a joint project a few months ago, a public center that would improve the situation of the community. “It’s smoke,” laments the Sin Miedo platform, “because they’ve been announcing this center for years and it hasn’t arrived.”
