As a Councillor and Second Deputy to the Mayor, it is only natural that I am interested in the well-being of the people and the animals in our community. However I must stress that the priority must and always will be, for the human residents of our Municipality.

I am very much aware, as an animal lover myself, of the need to care for the increasing number of abandoned animals in our Community.

Previously, there was a great deal of expenditure on the collection and homing of abandoned animals. As we are still experiencing an economic crisis, we cannot continue to dish out money to organisations that have as their primary goal, the saving of the lives of these animals, regardless of whether or not, they are healthy enough to survive independently. We have to be realistic. That was why we, the Town Hall, decided to give the contract to recover and deal with the abandoned animals, to Cereco.

What is Cereco?

It is a company that is engaged, by a large number of Town Halls in the Vega Baja region, including San Fulgencio Town Hall, to collect and deal with the problem of abandoned animals.

Before I continue to discuss Cereco, it should be pointed out that in the UK, an abandoned animal is taken to a central pound. The animal is checked over and any identifying marks and “chip details” are noted. Attempts are made to reconnect them with their owners. The animal is normally kept for a period of 7 – 10 days. If the animal is not claimed, it is humanely put to sleep.

At Cereco, animals recovered from the streets are placed in their care for 20 days. There are two parts to this organisation. The first part, which is based in Poligono Cachapet, Crevillente, is where the animals are taken, to be assessed and examined. Between 24 and 48 hours, they are moved to a larger facility out in the country.

Currently there are a few people who are being influenced, to oppose the continuation of the contract with Cereco, on the grounds that the conditions that the animals are kept under are filthy and unhealthy. With this in mind, I decided to pay an unannounced visit to the facility, along with an independent witness.

On Thursday 6th October 2011, I arrived at the facility in Crevillente and identified myself. I was immediately given access and introduced to the owner, a Veterinary Surgeon of more than 27 years. He showed us around the facility and considering that this is a place for abandoned animals and not a “pet hotel”, I found the general areas, clean, disinfected and all cages had food and water. The caged dogs were all quite lively and bright eyed. What should be remembered is that the majority of these animals have been abandoned by unfeeling and callous owners.

I was then taken to the other compound belonging to Cereco, which was set on 13000 square metres of Campo. The pounds, many of new construction, were clean, had adequate supplies of food and water.

The animals all appeared in reasonable health and some were being exercised by volunteers. The manageress of this facility lives next to it and keeps a watchful eye on things 24/7.

There are economic reasons why animals are abandoned, but it is not the responsibility of Town Halls to prolong the lives of these unfortunate animals. The priorities of Town Halls are to provide for the people first.

My opinion, and that of my observer, is that, as facilities for abandoned animals were concerned, this was more than adequate, humane and caring. When I asked the owner, if there was anything that he would like, he stated that he would appreciate the assistance of volunteers to walk and groom the animals and more people to come forward and adopt the animals and give them a loving home for the rest of their lives.

An Iberian Lynx, that we reported to have been released back into the wild in December, has been found dead.

An initial autopsy has been inconclusive, but investigators are still hoping to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that resulted in this specimen of an endangered species not surviving in the wild, despite all the preparations carried out before the release.

This is the second death from a group of five that were released in the area of the Guarrizas River, an area that is naturally attractive to the animal.

The Iberian Lynx is the most endangered species in Spain and one of the most endangered cats in the world. The total population is estimated to be between 60 and 100 adults. If the animal does become extinct, it will be the first recorded feline extinction in 10,000 years.

The animals were all released after partaking in a captive breeding program at the La Olivilla centre.

A police spokesman said the accident occurred after seven bulls were unintentionally let loose on the city’s narrow streets where they roamed for about 40 minutes before being constrained on a nearby beach.  The film's local crew could not explain how the bulls escaped.

In the film, Cadiz was to pose as the city of Pamplona in northern Spain, where the bull run made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is held each year in July.  Rehearsals for those scenes began in Cadiz last Monday.

Meanwhile, the film’s stars, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, wrap up the movie’s Salzburg scenes.  Cruise arrived in the Austrian city on Thursday, November 21, preceded by Diaz, who arrived on Tuesday.  The stars are expected to travel to Spain next weekend.

via Bull injures two in Spain at Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz film location [slideshow].

The Popular Legislative Initiative, which has gathered 180,000 signatures, calls for a change in Catalonia's animal protection law, which bans killing or mistreating animals in shows except in the case of bullfights.

It is to be examined by the regional parliament in Barcelona in mid-December and, if it passes, Catalonia would become the first region of Spain to outlaw bullfighting.

In a letter to the Catalan government, Bardot described as “strange and paradoxical that the (Catalonian) Socialist Party (PSC) opposes direct democracy.”

Bullfighting is “an incredibly sadistic spectacle” and the PSC's position is “an insult to the formidable popular campaign which has been observed in Catalonia,” she said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP Wednesday.

A PSC spokesman said that the party does not oppose the initiative, but is allowing its legislators a free vote on the issue.

The proposal has the backing of the PSC's ally in the ruling coalition, the nationalist ERC party, but is opposed by the conservative Popular Party. The remaining parties are divided on the issue.

Catalonia has led opposition to bullfighting, which animal rights campaigners blast as a form of torture, in part due to a desire among some Catalans to strike a separate identity from the rest of Spain.

via Bardot joins bullfighting debate in Spain – Yahoo! News UK.

Just a few days after her birth, she already measures 2 metres in height and weighs in at around 80 kilos.She is expected to reach a height of 5 metres once fully grown.Antenea lives with her parents Carmina and Seus and her brother, Apolo, who was born at the centre’s special giraffe enclosure 2 years ago.

Rarely seen in Europe, the Angolan Giraffe is native to Africa and the southern parts of Angola, the northern parts of Namibia, and the western parts of Botswana. They are identified by a large spotted pattern running down the length of their legs.

The Angolan Giraffe is one of the tallest mammals on earth. The only other groups of this endangered species found in Europe are in zoos in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and in Dortmund in Germany.

According to Jeanne Egbosiuba Ukwendu, an African Culture Editor for Bella online, a giraffe lives up to 10 years, but they have been known to live up to 27 years.Giraffes have black tongues and, although their neck is very long, they only have 7 vertebrae in their necks as humans do.

They are normally silent, but they will also give warning snorts, moans, and hisses.A baby giraffe has a 6 foot 2 metre drop when it is born and lands on its head.Giraffes normally eat tree leaves but drink very little and can go up to two weeks without water.

They have four stomachs in the same way as a ruminant, and regurgitate their food whilst chewing it completely.

They sleep between ten minutes and two hours in a 24-hour period, averaging just 1.9 hours per day.

It has been proven that they show distinct patterns of stereotypical behaviour if removed from their natural environment. Most humanly reared Giraffes never have the opportunity of suckling milk from their mother, and so instead, they often display excessive use of their tongue on inanimate objects.

via First female ‘Angolan Giraffe’ born in Malaga, Spain.

Twelve of the birds were still alive, albeit in very poor condition, and were recoverd to the Centre for Animal Recovery in Burgos. Immediately veterinarians commenced treatment of the birds, which was a long slow process including inducing vomiting in the animals that were still alive, trying to stabilize them.

The animals that have survived the initial emergency treatment were subject to treatment with antidotes.

The improvement in six of them has been outstanding, and on Tuesday these six have been released in the same place where they were found, while the other four vultures continue to receive treatment until they are well enough to be returned to their natural environment.

The team responsible for the release of these birds have clarified that the vultures had successfully undergone treatment for the effects of poisoning and that “they should be freed because the animals are healthy and they suffer stress in captivity”.

They have also said that some of them are still having and raising their chicks in the nest, so it was not desirable to delay the release. They also said that vulture parents have an unusual parenting strategy whereas both parents act as partners in feeding their offspring.

One of the six released vultures. Picture by Manuel Brágimo.

The house did not meet the requirements of hygiene and health for the welfare of dogs, mostly because it was “too small” but also because of the lack of care that the animals received. Some of the dogs had obvious signs of suffering from scabies and other injuries that were caused by fights between them, according to sources.

None of the animals had received veterinary care, 44 of the 49 dogs had no identification and rabies vaccination, and many never left home for long periods of time.

Among the animals seized was a puppy just 20 days old, and several females with signs of having recently had a litter, whose offspring, according to the owner, had died of unknown causes.

The animals have been transferred to the Reception Center for Animals Madrid (CIAAM) in Colmenar Viejo, who are providing the veterinary care they need. The Regional Executive has said that all these rescued animals can be handed over for adoption after passing the relevant health checks.

The same law applies to dolphins slapping their tails, diving, flopping sideways, and performing other movements when surface swimming, according to Spanish and British researchers.

“Patterns of dolphin behaviour at the surface obey the same law of brevity as human language, with both seeking out the simplest and most efficient codes,” said Dr Ramon Ferrer i Cancho, from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain.

The “law of brevity” proposed by linguists holds that the most frequently used words – such as “the” and “but” – are also the shortest.

Dolphins appear to use the same “linguistic economy” in their swimming movements, say the researchers.

The creatures have a complex language that scientists are still far from understanding.

Although dolphins communicate mostly by means of audible clicks and whistles, experts believe they also employ body language when swimming close to one another.

Working with British colleague Dr David Lusseau, from the University of Aberdeen, Dr Ferrer i Cancho studied bottlenose dolphins living off the coast of New Zealand.

The scientists found that each movement pattern made by the creatures could be broken down into one or more of four basic units. For example, the “tail slap” pattern could be divided up into three sub-movements given the names “slap”, “tail” and “two”.

A pattern called “spy hop” was made up of the units “stop”, “expose”, and “head”. In contrast, the “side flop” pattern only comprised “leap” and “side”, while a movement dubbed “tailstock dive” consisted of only one unit, the “dorsal arch”.

In total the researchers counted more than 30 patterns of behaviour and their related units. Dolphins were seen to execute many behaviour patterns made up of just one unit, and far fewer composed of four units.

The findings are reported in the journal Complexity.

“The results show that the simple and efficient behaviour strategies of dolphins are similar to those used by humans with words, and are the same as those used, for example, when we reduce the size of a photographic or video image in order to save space,” Dr Ferrer i Cancho said.

via Dolphin body language ‘follows human verbal communication’ – Telegraph.

The Minister of Environment and Seaside and Rural Areas, Elena Espinosa, and the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning and Regional Development of Portugal, Francisco Nunes, signed a Protocol whereby Spain will give – progressively – 20 specimens of Iberian lynx to Portugal, so as to introduce them in the National Centre for Iberian Lynx Breeding in Portugal, in the frame of the Iberian Lynx Captivity Breeding Action Plan.

The Minister of Portugal undertook to implement and set forth – in three years at the latest – an in-detail programme with at least one potential area for Iberian lynx reintroduction.

This Programme will be implemented according to the criteria set up by the Mix Commission for the Preservation of the Iberian Lynx, create through a Cooperation Agreement between Spain and Portugal, and the Multilateral Commission, created through the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of the Ministry of Environment and Seaside and Rural Areas, the Department of Environment of the Junta de Andalucía, the Department of Environment and Rural Development of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the Department of Industry, Energy and Environment of the Junta de Extremadura and the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development of Portugal which will be acting as an observer.

Besides, the Ministry of Environment and Seaside and Rural Areas and the Junta de Andalucía will handle a copy of the information concerning the specimens handed in where any further date should be included.

Besides, should the specimen be transferred to different premises within the captivity breeding programme, a copy of the information sheet should be handed in to the person in charge of the centre in which it is received and another one should be sent to the Director of the Captivity Breeding Action Plan in the Ministry of Environment and Seaside and Rural Areas.

The Ministry of Portugal will issue an annual report on the health condition and behaviour of these specimens during the whole year, including the results of the different tests carried out.

Should these specimens breed, they could be introduced in the captivity breeding programme or in reintroduction projects both in Spain and Portugal, according to the criteria adopted by the Multilateral Commission.

Besides, the Scientific-Technical Committee of the Multilateral Commission will decide about the best location for the different specimens according to genetic, ethologic and management criteria.

Furthermore, the Multilateral and the Mix Commission will be informed at least two weeks in advance about the transfer of the specimens to a different centre.

This Protocol enhances cooperation between both governments, for in October 2004 they signed the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation concerning the Iberian imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx, aimed at developing and financing the different strategies and actions concerning different aspects related to the preservation of these species and, in particular, to genetic and demographic management aspects within the programme for conservation ‘ex situ’ of the Iberian Lynx.

Both countries signed a Cooperation Agreement in august 2007 concerning the Iberian Lynx captivity breeding programme which is intended to enhance cooperation for the integration of Portugal in the Spanish Iberian Lynx Captivity Breeding Plan.

The small number of fossils found has prevented the scientists from the University of Valencia (UV), who have led this research study, from being able to gain a full picture of this “new” rodent. However, they have been able to prove – on the basis of just the teeth, the only fossil remains discovered – that Eomyops noeliae was morphologically and biometrically different from other rodents of the Eomyops genus. The new species provides valuable evolutionary, biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental information related to this rodent, which was of average size within the group.

“Until now, the Eomyops genus was made up of a group of small species and one large one, but no intermediately-sized kinds such as Eomyops noeliae had been found”, Francisco Javier Ruiz-Sánchez, lead author of the study published in the French journal Comptes Rendus Palevol and a researcher in the UV’s Department of Geology, tells SINC.

IMAGE: Here, the fossil teeth are studied.

Click here for more information.

The palaeontologists have also confirmed the age of the find. “The fossils found in the Morteral 20A deposit in Valencia show that this is the oldest species within the genus known in the world with absolute certainty”, points out Ruiz-Sánchez. According to this data, Eomyops noeliae would have lived during the Aragonese period “perhaps between the Lower and Middle Miocene (around 16 million years ago)”, underscores the researcher.

The rodent’s wet environment

The varied fauna of micro-mammals and the new species found in the Valencian deposit provide information about the environmental conditions in which these animals would have lived at the time. “The rodent taxa found show evidence that the environment was very wet”, says Ruiz-Sánchez, even though the full study on all the fossil rodent remains, begun with this new eomyid, has still not been completed.

According to the study, the environment was “relatively thickly wooded, and the climate was wet”, although other factors such as temperature have not yet been defined.

The biogeographical data also show that Eomyops noeliae lived throughout the east of the Iberian Peninsula during the Lower-Middle Miocene. This has been confirmed from the Eomyops species remains excavated from the “most recent” Morteral 22 deposit, which is very close to Morteral 20A.

Ruiz-Sánchez says the finds of this species’ teeth in deposit strata separated by just a few metres show that “how this species survived in the east of the peninsula over a specific time period that is currently hard to define, but which must have gone on for several tens of thousands of years”.

via Extinct rodent species discovered.