The Franz Weber Foundation warned this Friday that the viral video of the baby camel being beaten while workers remain in the transport chairs in the Timanfaya National Park could lead to criminal liability, in light of the recent reform of the Penal Code approved in recent months by the Cortes Generales.
In the images, the animal is dragged by another while tied, being unable to get up, "possibly due to the weight", says the Foundation, "for which it is repeatedly beaten with a deplorable attitude from the workers." Thus, the naturalists suspect that "their tranquility is due to the fact that it is a regular practice, which has now been captured on video."
The NGO has urged the Yaiza City Council to transfer any information from the company and the people involved to the Superior Prosecutor's Office for the Environment of the Canary Islands, warning that "their public position seems to be to prevent these individuals from being investigated independently."
Leonardo Anselmi, director of FFW for Europe, has stressed that "the video is very clear". "There is notable evidence that the attitude of these people may lead to criminal liability in accordance with article 340 bis, that is, causing injuries to the baby camel," he adds.
"We doubt that an independent veterinarian has reviewed it in the following hours"
"Furthermore, we doubt that an independent veterinarian has reviewed it in the following hours, so we reiterate the need for these investigations to be carried out independently of the pressures of the sector and the local administration itself, with direct economic interests in these tourist walks," he stresses.
The FFW has also deplored the recent appearances of the Mayor of Yaiza in the media, recalling that his veterinary report carried out in 2021 together with the local Association ADEMAL detailed the "significant shortcomings regarding the welfare of the camels, shortcomings that at no time seem to have been resolved and the viral video shows, once again, that the integrity of the mammals is in the background in favor of business profit," he makes clear.
The international NGO warns that "if Yaiza does not immediately transfer the case to the Public Prosecutor's Office, it will take care of it motu proprio, including the local entity among possible necessary collaborators of the act of cruelty against a defenseless baby that would have occurred in Timanfaya."
