The Lanzarote Camel Drivers Association (ACALAN) has announced that it is considering filing a lawsuit against the Franz Weber Foundation, which reported this Wednesday that it had collected 33,000 signatures (this Thursday it's 34,000) to end dromedary rides on the island. Said association has denounced that it is "a defamation campaign against professionals in the sector".
The president of ACALAN, Francisco Mesa, has assured that this animal welfare foundation has disseminated claims “false and without scientific basis” that discredit "a legal and regulated activity".
Denounces that they are accused of "abusers"
The association has considered "especially serious" that the sector is being publicly accused of animal abuse "without proof" and "attributing behaviors that could have criminal relevance and that constitute a direct attack on the honor of the workers".
At the same time, it has rejected that "camels suffer from the sun or that they present injuries, remembering that it is an adapted desert species and that calluses are a natural characteristic".
Furthermore, he/she has assured that this type of campaigns feed a climate of "insults, attacks and hate messages on social media". To which he/she has added that even "death has been wished" to the workers of the sector.
Finally, it has assured that "freedom of expression does not protect the dissemination of falsehoods or unfounded accusations, and reaffirms its commitment to animal welfare, legality, and the defense of the sector's dignity".