Merida, Yucatan — A rally is planned Sunday to protest a proposal to return animal acts to circuses in Mexico.
The national ban on circus animals, passed in 2015, would be reversed under a Morena-sponsored bill awaiting a vote in Mexico City.
Merida passed its own circus-animal ban in 2014, but no statewide measure was instituted. Abuses against animals are often not enforced in remote areas.
Special legislation at the local level would be required to prevent lasso or loop tournaments, bullfights and dog or cockfights as well as “motuleadas” and livestock dueling.
But Red Animal Yucatan, or the Yucatan Animal Network, isn’t having it. A march will begin 8 a.m. Sunday from Parque Santiago to the Plaza Grande.
At a rally that follows, animal defenders will further demand that the Merida City Council turn its municipal pound into “a true center of animal welfare.” Red Animal Yucatan wants the kennel to be open to the public so citizens can verify living conditions for the stray dogs and cats that the city captures.
Also, they will ask the municipal authorities to promote a volunteer program in the city pound, that adoptions are promoted and that euthanasia only be applied in extreme cases.
The government will also be asked to institute a permanent vaccination, deworming and sterilization campaign to combat canine and feline overpopulation. Nonprofit organizations, financed by private donations, have been leading the charge in providing spay-and-neuter services to households that can’t afford them.
The march and rally will coincide with a much larger demonstration at the Zocalo in Mexico City.
Sources: Desde el Balcon, AM
