Wendy Williams
By Wendy Williams
BRITISH expats have been left ‘shocked and outraged’ after a series of ‘sickening’ attacks on cats in Estepona.
Recent weeks have seen reports of several cats in the El Faro area being shot in the head and left to die.
In one particularly disturbing case, a group of young boys allegedly kicked a kitten until its intestines burst.
Now the volunteer-run animal rescue charity ADANA is calling on Estepona Town Hall to step in, stop the cruelty and save the reputation of the town.
“There have been a number of instances of gratuitous cruelty and sadistic violence towards cats and kittens which, if not stopped, could damage the reputation of the town in the eyes of foreign holiday-makers,” explained Mary Page,vice-president of ADANA.
“We have been told of two occasions of cats actually being shot in the head and left to die in agony, cats being beaten to death with metal bars and a group of young boys kicked a kitten until its intestines burst from its body.
“There are around seven incidents that we know of but we only see the worst cases.
“This sadistic treatment of animals, if witnessed by tourists from Northern Europe and the rest of Spain, will leave a stain on the memory of the Estepona holiday,” added Page.
“The person who reported the kitten being kicked was a British holidaymaker, it is not nice to come on holiday and see a kitten kicked.
“I appeal to the mayor, the police and residents to do all they can to stop this disgusting, cruel behaviour.”
The El Faro area is home to a large number of stray cats which are given food and water by local residents, and have even been neutered at the residents’ expense.
The latest string of incidents come amid fears the cats will soon be removed from the area as plans to redevelop the area by Estepona Ayuntamiento are put in place.
please let me catch these people doing this….i will dish out the same treatment to them
Good idea Mr. Collis, but I doubt you would get away with kicking seven bells out of a bunch of young kids, even if their intestines would look well on the sidewalk.
Mr Collis-Brown. That´s an excellent idea. I can see it now.
“We have been told of two occasions of people actually being shot in the head and left to die in agony, people being beaten to death with metal bars and a group of young boys kicked one person until their intestines burst from their body.”
Yes, that should certainly increase the number of tourist visitors to Estepona.
What standards do they learn from though.. their parents? Chasing bulls into the sea, setting their horns on fire, scaring them to charge at people, torturing and killing them for pleasure. We shouldn’t really moan about cold hearted Spanish attitude towards animals really if we live here but…
I don’t believe this story, Spain is a modern democratic, humane western European country. Isn’t it?
The photo is of a lighthouse, not a kitten or a sadist.
Peter – “I don’t believe this story, Spain is a modern democratic, humane western European country. Isn’t it?”
People torture animals in every country. Search the phrase “British torture cats” and you’ll find a bunch of articles on the first page of people being arrested in the UK, or unsolved cases of animal cruelty and the torture of cats in the UK.
A few sick people torturing animals doesn’t say anything about an entire country being a “humane, Western European country.” There is no logical basis to extrapolate isolated incidents of animal cruelty to the policies of culture of an entire national population.
Even the title of the article in the Olive Press is misleading – “BRITISH expats have been left ‘shocked and outraged’ after a series of ‘sickening’ attacks on cats in Estepona”
Right, because only the British are shocked and outraged. Spanish people are just torturing cats left and right. What’s a night on the town without a tapa and torturing a cat. I can hardly walk down the street without seeing people torturing cats.
And when (if) arrests are made I am sure it is going to be due to some sort of international law, or special foreign British task force. Maybe the American SEAL team that killed Osama Bin Laden will swoop in. Not the Spanish police. Nor because Spain has laws against animal cruelty. The Spanish just love to torture cats and only the British expats feel the outrage. Clearly only foreign intervention will stop the savagery that is Spanish cat torture.
Also to point out a small factual error – shooting an animal in the head is actually a fast and humane way to dispatch of it. Very rarely does any living thing ‘suffer’ after a bullet in the brain. In most cases it is instant death. This is actually how many animals are culled (population reduction) by animal conservationists (see: Park Rangers). It’s also the target of choice for non-trophy hunters. There is clearly no reason for anyone to kill cats, but that would be one of the more humane ways to do it.
So anyway, another sensationalist and distorted article. The headline might as well read “Spanish people love torturing cats; British outraged.”
Reality – Very well said!
A distorted and uninformed piece stereotyping “Johnnie Foreigner” unnecessarily.
I have live in Spain for 9 years and have noticed the Spanish are not particularly animal friendly!But I have to say,there have been many cases of animal cruelty by British people too.Such as a breeding swan being shot, dog fighting,greyhound with ears cut off by owner, hamster in microwave etc etc….
I agree you get yobs in every country but i cant believe the main concern of this report is the ‘effect on tourism’ what abou the poor animals ? and why didnt the people who witnessed this intervene? maybe they did and the paper didnt bother to report that bit.
“i cant believe the main concern of this report is the ‘effect on tourism’”
Well, Mr Collis-Brown, maybe this extract from the report will help you to understand.
“Now the volunteer-run animal rescue charity ADANA is calling on Estepona Town Hall to step in, stop the cruelty and save the reputation of the town.
“There have been a number of instances of gratuitous cruelty and sadistic violence towards cats and kittens which, if not stopped, could damage the reputation of the town in the eyes of foreign holiday-makers,” explained Mary Page,vice-president of ADANA.”
The Olive Press was just reporting what the volunteer-run animal rescue charity, ADANA, said. Maybe you would have preferred it if the newspaper had fabricated a quotation, or had not mentioned the quotation at all.
The president of my appartment building brutally kicked my dogs.It was the act of a mad man.I was so shocked I gave my dogs away for their own safety.In a country that tortures bulls,it is apparent to me that the Spanish are backwards and have no respect for life.
James – “In a country that tortures bulls,it is apparent to me that the Spanish are backwards and have no respect for life.”
1. All countries torture bulls. They just do it behind closed doors. How do you think meat cattle are treated before you eat them? The only difference is that they aren’t used for sport in their final hours.
2. A majority of Spanish people oppose bullfighting. According to some statistics, upwards of 90% oppose it. Cultural traditions just die hard. I don’t know if you have ever been to see one, but the stands are usually empty (except for the largest events).
3. I just read an article about a British woman slamming cats against the ground and throwing them in dumpsters. It is apparent to me that the British are backwards and have no respect for life. (Same reasoning you’ve got here.)
Lol@Reality,you do indeed need a reality check.I note your posts across many articles as the sole defender of this cruel,corrupt,backward country.
Sticking spears into Bulls and letting them suffer with crowds jeering is markedly different from the almost instantaneous death at an abbatoir.Though quite possibly not at a Spanish one.
I was recently given an on the spot fine by local police and ordered to find the cash in five minutes.This entitled me to a 30% discount.Only to discover that the Guardia Civil are the only force allowed to do that.
This country is rotten at it’s core.The way people treat animals is a great insight into how they treat each other.
James – “Sticking spears into Bulls and letting them suffer with crowds jeering is markedly different from the almost instantaneous death at an abbatoir.”
The issue is that you focus only on the death, not the conditions of the livestock animal.
Animals raised for food are confined their entire lives in areas so small they can’t turn around. Many develop rickets, or muscle atrophy that doesn’t allow them to stand. All are pumped full of antibiotics throughout their entire lives, because if not they would all experience sickness and disease from the conditions they live in. Many never see the sun.
The death is fast. But the life of a meat animal is far, far worse than that of a sport bull.
So are you saying it is okay to essentially torture animals their entire lives, as long as the actual death comes quickly?
James – “I was recently given an on the spot fine by local police and ordered to find the cash in five minutes.This entitled me to a 30% discount.Only to discover that the Guardia Civil are the only force allowed to do that.”
Sounds like you’re mad because you broke a law and got a fine. How you’ve managed to insert this into a discussion about bullfighting I have no idea. Were you fined for killing a bull?
Most urbanisations kill the cats that are there, usually hitler type presidents of urbanisation arrange for it to be done they proberly pay these monsters to kill them .
I have seen some pretty vile things happen to animals in spain so nothing would suprise me.
It just ignorance.
Carla, I spent 54 years living in the UK and I can tell you that cruelty to animals exists there too. More than people would care to acknowledge. There is a popular image of British people being animal-lovers but that is no more true than it is of other countries. There are good people and bad everywhere.
I also spent 5 years living in France, 1 year in Canada, 1 year in Australia and 2 years in the USA. The same cruelty to animals in those countries too.
I agree with you that it´s ignorance. However, I also think it represents an indifference to suffering, an indifference that is all too easily transferred to human suffering.