When Teresa Almagro, who is a nurse and has seen it all, toured the facilities of the Animal Protection Center in Chiclana (Cádiz) last year, she had to take an anti-anxiety pill. He saw animals stuffed in refrigerators, dogs tied with one-meter ropes, feeders full of worms, cats full of wounds, without strength.
His public complaint caused the Seprona of the Civil Guard to visit that place months later and open a file against the company Athisa, which had been granted the concession again by the Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz despite all alerts previously made. That was in April. Now the same Commonwealth has announced that it is seizing the concession. A latest report has detected serious irregularities and the town councils will be the ones to temporarily manage this place.
Teresa Almagro belongs to the Platform Without Fear, created by residents of the Bay of Cádiz, very concerned about the treatment given to those abandoned animals, which ended up there for various reasons. This area of the Cadiz province has not done very well in caring for these homeless pets. Before that of Chiclana, El Refugio worked in Puerto Realwhich was closed by justice in an unprecedented ruling in Spain, in which, for the first time, it was ordered to close a facility of this type due to the mistreatment of animals.
Those responsible ended up being sentenced to three months in prison for subjecting the animals to “agonizing and unbearable” deaths. That 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 Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Cádiz, Puerto Real, Chiclana, and San Fernando), whose management was awarded to the company Athisa Medio Ambiente SAU. Its service includes the collection and management of abandoned animals from the four municipalities, with an average intake of 185 animals per month, which the concessionaire undertakes to care for, provide health care and find a home. The center does not sacrifice within a certain period like others, under the philosophy that “all animals are adoptable.”
That is on paper because, immediately, the complaints began again, which led a group of neighbors to group together under the name Platform Without Fear, who were the ones who were able to tour those facilities in 2023, accumulate equally regrettable images, denounce serious irregularities and warn of the poor condition of the animals. “It is a concentration camp for cats and dogs,” they summarized graphically.
But that name, nor the alerts issued by other environmental groups, did not prevent the Commonwealth, with the approval of the municipal technicians of the city councils, 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, from the Platform Without Fear, “because we felt like they weren’t listening to us.”
The Commonwealth, a few weeks later, agreed to a financial penalty against the company for minor offenses, of around 13,000 euros. So the visits by the veterinarians and technicians from each municipality, although they reflected non-compliance and neglect in the facilities, did not prevent the activity from continuing. Until now.
The organization, whose president is the councilor of El Puerto Millán Alegre, announced this week the striking decision to sequester the animal protection and collection service to Athisa for six months. During that time, as detailed by the Commonwealth, “the management will be collegiate by municipal technicians and veterinarians.”
Six months to correct deficiencies
Why now and not before? Alegre explained this week in an interview on the SER that “this file has been opened due to serious non-compliance that appears in a report by the faculty management that has proposed the closure of the center.”
The closure cannot be carried out, he clarifies, because it is a basic service that cannot be stopped, which is why the route of temporary sequestration of the concession has been chosen. The service is assumed by the Commonwealth and the company will have six months to correct all these deficiencies so that the contract can continue.
The Fearless Platform sees this decision as “a patch” and an incomplete measure, in addition to the fact that it arrives late. “We have been asking for all the files and reports made since June and the Commonwealth has denied them,” explained María Camacho.
“During the time that this company has been in existence, the animals have been in terrible conditions, some have been left to die of starvation or have been found hanging,” he laments. This refusal to receive the reports was reported to the Andalusian Ombudsman, who has transferred it to the Transparency and Data Protection Council of Andalusia.
Since 2008, the municipalities of the Bay have been looking for a definitive place to care for abandoned animals. The mayors of Cádiz and San Fernando announced a few months ago a joint project, a public center that would alleviate the situation of the community. “It’s all smoke,” laments the Sin Miedo platform, “because they’ve been announcing that center for years and it hasn’t arrived.”
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