Mexico City Intends To Create An Animal Welfare Institute

During the Legislative Assembly in Mexico City, an initiative was presented for the creation of the Animal Assistance Institute. It was promoted by the deputies of the PRD ( Partido de la Revolución Democrática

), with the aim of having a center from which to formulate global strategies to guarantee animal rights.

The main objectives of the Animal Assistance Institute

Among the tasks that this institution would carry out, with a focus on the fight against maltreatment in all its forms, the creation of a census that would generate a register of pets present in the Mexican capital stands out.

In addition, the Institute for Animal Assistance will try to:

• Update the current legislation on the subject.
• Protect those animals that are in a state of neglect.
• Organize vaccination and sterilization campaigns.
• Carry out checks in stores that sell pets.
• Contribute to the creation of a collective awareness of the care that each animal deserves.
• Stimulate a culture of responsibility among the bosses.
• Train civil servants and citizens on the correct way to assist and protect animals.

A joint project to protect animals

The deputy Victor Hugo Romo Guerra, promoter of the initiative, indicated that the institute will be the only one in all of Latin America to take on a global policy on the theme of animal protection. To this end, various experts in the field will meet to formulate proposals for short and long term actions.

The project was developed together with some organizations that defend animal rights, such as:

• Get Animal
• Proyecto Gran Simio
• Properro
• Frente Ciudadano Pro Derecho Animal

In addition, there has been collaboration with various ministries – Environment, Health, Public Safety – and with the Procuraduría Ambiental y del Ordenamiento Territorial (PAOT – Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Environment and Territorial Planning).

In addition, various activists were present at the presentation to the Assembly, who rushed to support the initiative together with a dozen dogs, the main beneficiaries of the establishment of the institute, if it is approved.

Against the violence and exploitation of animals

The promoters of the initiative underline that even pets have the right to a dignified life and expect that, with the creation of the Animal Assistance Institute, we can begin to stem the violence of which they are often victims. This naturally includes those cases where, for example, they are used in gainful activities, such as dog fighting.

For this reason, it was also thought to create tools that allow citizens to report the various episodes of mistreatment suffered by these innocent beings.

Mexico is part of a group of particularly perverse countries, places where violence against animals is more widespread. Focusing only on the West, it shares this primacy with Greece, Spain and Venezuela.

As the activists explain, domestic animals on Mexican territory are subjected to various types of mistreatment, including:

• Beatings;
• Abandonment;
• Poor nutrition and other negligence regarding daily care;

For this reason, to achieve a cultural change in this area, education to respect these living beings must necessarily start from childhood.

For a better future

Author: Juanedc

The project for the creation of the Animal Assistance Institute has a good chance of receiving approval during the current legislature, having an initial budget of 10 million Mexican pesos (about 500 thousand euros).

After the recent inauguration of the Public Veterinary Hospital, if the launch of such an organism is successful, Mexico City will take a further step in favor of these living beings who have no say in the matter, but who certainly deserve good treatment and respect for their rights.

It would be laudable that initiatives of this magnitude extend wherever an animal suffers from various human actions, whether they are conscious or not.