The Franz Weber Foundation has taken the case of the video in which a camel driver treated a baby camel in the vicinity of the Timanfaya National Park in a "completely inadequate" manner to the Deputy of the Common. The entity has made this decision five months after the video went viral and after the Yaiza City Council has not "yet initiated sanctioning proceedings".
To the lack of institutional reactions is added the lack of a basic regulatory framework that protects these animals against active mistreatment or basic deficiencies in their integrity and well-being, denounce the naturalists.
Likewise, the Foundation highlights that the images recorded by a tourist last June generated an important social response and a terrible image of Lanzarote due to a minority sector determined to continue exploiting mammals as a proposal for national and international tourism.
Precisely FFW pointed out in 2021 the "important shortcomings in the welfare of camels, with a strong veterinary report that warned about their living conditions, the long days of transport to which they are subjected and the incidents that occurred".
In addition, this document detailed excessive loads of people, dangerous pressure on the joints of dromedaries during transit, as well as the harmful use of wire muzzles or the absence of water. The conclusion was clear: "Significant physical and behavioral problems in the dromedaries of Lanzarote, so the welfare of these animals should be considered deficient."
Thus, the naturalists convey to the Canary Islands Ombudsman their protest "for the breach of state regulations on transparency by the Yaiza City Council, which, in addition to ignoring a request for information for months, dedicated itself to campaigning in favor of camel rides instead of adopting additional measures to protect these animals."
The campaign coordinator of FFW, Rubén Pérez, explains that "a public administration must respond to formal requests about its activity, and Yaiza not only fails to comply with this premise, but also seems to exercise a staunch defense of a minority sector that generates bad press for Lanzarote for its sole and exclusive way of treating animals".
To conclude, he points out that "the local government seems to benefit from the continuity of this activity and therefore we understand that there is an evident conflict of interest between applying welfare regulations or maintaining the rides."
