The president of the hunters of Lanzarote, Bernabé García, has been "tremendously worried" about the increase in cases of animal poisoning that are being registered during this August. Last year, coinciding with the hunting season, many filed complaints in this regard, after the death of an animal. However, according to García in Radio Lanzarote, the problem is getting worse "and dogs, hubaras, guirres and everything have already died." This man recalls that "in many European countries, there would already be someone in jail."
This same Sunday, according to reports, a podenco died and two others were injured after suffering poisoning. This happened in La Villa de Teguise, in the vicinity of the cemetery and the hermitage of San Rafael. "One of them fell fulminantly after eating something from the ground and two others are still hospitalized," says García, who has already warned the conejeros hunters to refrain from hunting in these places.
According to this hunter, the poison that is being used is "a deadly weapon", whose use has been prohibited in the agricultural sector. "If it cannot be used, why do they sell it?", García asks. "Some gentleman is bothered by hedgehogs and turtledoves and they spread poison around their farms," he says.
This same Monday, Bernabé García took a walk through the countryside and found "several dead animals". "My heart is breaking. I found a hubara about to die, poor thing. I feel alone, there is no one who cares about this and I don't know what is going to happen. All the hedgehogs and little birds are falling like flies," this man laments.
The problem, moreover, is that hunters are ceasing to practice this activity due to the increase in cases of poisoning of their dogs and, therefore, the plague of rabbits "is increasing". "There are already farmers who have planted pumpkins and tomatoes and the rabbits are eating the harvest. But I am not going to go hunting in a place where there may be poison," he says.
They demand an investigation
Bernabé García does not understand why the prosecutor in charge of the Environment area in Lanzarote, Ignacio Stampa, is not taking action on the matter urgently. "There are many complaints filed for animal poisoning," recalls García, who also demands that the Cabildo "investigate who is behind this."
According to this hunter, the investigation is not "so difficult" because there are only "two brands of poison" that, at present, "are off the market" and that for their purchase the DNI must be presented. "If they want, they can locate them. Isn't there a judicial order to search when a man has a ton of drugs, cocaine or heroin, in his house? Well, this is the same, let's search the homes to find out what is happening", García insists.
This hunter assures that the farmers of Lanzarote "often do not know what potential the poisons have" and, therefore, hopes that this problem will be tackled as soon as possible. In this sense, he wonders what would happen "if a young man catches a rabbit and takes it home to cook it without knowing that it is poisoned", as almost happened last Sunday. For all these reasons, he asks for an immediate solution to this serious situation.
