9 Dec, 2023 @ 10:20
1 min read

Animal shelter popular with British expats is ordered to close ‘for making too much noise’ on Spain’s Costa del Sol

AN animal shelter on Spain’s Costa del Sol has been forced to close for ‘making too much noise’. 

A volunteer feeding dogs. Photo: El Refugio de Leo/Facebook

It comes after neighbours complained about the dogs barking at the shelter between Velez-Malaga and Arenas.

Lourdes Peláez, opened El Refugio de Leo in 2016 and it quickly became popular with expats in the area. 

Based in Cerro de Beas, the dog shelter has now been ordered to cease activity by a local judge.

According to the Junta, the closure is due to a lack of appropriate permissions such as ‘declaration as a zoo facility’. 

The Provincial Court backed up a judgement from Malaga’s criminal court, forcing the shelter to shut down. 

The case arose after three neighbours made complaints about noise coming from the rural shelter, located some 6km away from any populated town. 

In an interview with Diario Sur, animal lover Pelaez said: “They’re throwing us out because of the noise, they’ve judged us wrongly.

“It’s been seven years of fighting with neighbours, who aren’t even here legally but have built illegal houses.” 

Labrador puppies Photo: El Refugio de Leo/Facebook

The shelter is now ‘desperately’ looking for new accommodation for their 40 dogs, but according to Pelaez, ‘they are all full’. 

Over the last seven years, the shelter has saved on average 180 dogs and cats each year, many of which were adopted by expats. 

According to Pelaez, the judge has acted ‘unfairly’, considering the feelings of the neighbours over noise laws, which she claims are non-existent in Arenas. 

She also claims the ‘evil’ neighbours came to the shelter to ‘stir up’ the dogs so that they would make more noise. 

However, she says the shelter won’t go down without a fight: “I am not going to allow them to destroy animal rescue or treat us like criminals, that is what they are doing.”

She has also urged the local council to consider the recent Ley de Bienestar Animal (Animal Welfare Law). 

Pelaez claims that the council’s response to her pleas has been to tell her there are ‘enough’ sanctuaries in the area. 

It is evident, she claims, that animal protection laws do nothing if the judges themselves ‘are lacking in heart’.

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Yzabelle Bostyn

Yzabelle Bostyn is an NCTJ trained journalist who started her journalistic career at the Olive Press in 2023.
Before moving to Spain, she studied for a BA in English Literature and Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield.
After graduating she moved to the university’s journalism department, one of the best in the UK.
Throughout the past few years, she has taken on many roles including social media marketing, copywriting and radio presenting.
She then took a year out to travel Latin America, scaling volcanoes in Guatemala and swimming with sharks in Belize.
Then, she came to the Olive Press last year where she has honed her travel writing skills and reported on many fantastic experiences such as the Al Andalus luxury train.
She has also undertaken many investigations, looking into complex issues like Spain’s rental crisis and rising cancer rates.
Always willing to help, she has exposed many frauds and scams, working alongside victims to achieve justice.
She is most proud of her work on Nolotil, a drug linked to the deaths of many Brits in Spain.
A campaign launched by Yzabelle has received considerable support and her coverage has been by the UK and Spanish media alike.
Her writing has featured on many UK news outlets from the Sun to the Mail Online, who contracted her to report for them in Tenerife on growing tourism issues.
Recently, she has appeared on Times Radio covering deadly flooding in Valencia.

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