The Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA) has reported that it has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office for the alleged holding of cockfights in the Canary Islands despite being expressly prohibited by legislation since 2007.
According to a statement from this party, the complaint is supported "by exhaustive legal and evidentiary documentation" that proves the holding of championships, leagues, and cockfighting tournaments on islands such as Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Lanzarote, or Fuerteventura.
PACMA denounces that during an event held in Gran Canaria dozens of cockfights took place for more than six hours, "with animals forced to attack each other until they were unconscious, seriously injured, or dead."
The political party emphasizes that these practices cannot be justified by a supposed sporting nature, as they do not meet the legal definition of a sporting activity nor are they registered as such.
PACMA points out that Law 32/2007, of a state nature, prohibited the use of animals in fights without exceptions in its article 14 throughout the national territory since its entry into force, which rendered any previous permissiveness included in regional regulations ineffective.
It adds that to this is added the legal recognition of animals as sentient beings, both in the Canary Islands' Statute of Autonomy and in the Civil Code, which makes the continuation of this type of spectacle incompatible with the current legal framework.
