The Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa approved this Tuesday in plenary session the motion defended by the Minister of Animal Welfare, Armando Santana, to advance in the prevention of animal abuse and ensure that persons who are legally disqualified cannot access a hunting license while such disqualification remains in force.
The initiative proposes to reinforce the control mechanisms linked to the granting and renewal of hunting licenses and to promote the regulatory changes necessary so that final convictions for animal abuse offenses can have express consequences on these authorizations, always within the legal framework and respecting the principles of proportionality and legal certainty.
The Minister of Animal Welfare, Armando Santana, has defended that this initiative seeks to establish a coherent relationship between the legal protection of animals and the requirements for carrying out an activity that involves direct contact with animals and that, in certain modalities, entails the use of firearms.
“It is not about establishing an additional sanction or replacing judicial decisions, but about ensuring that firm disqualifications are effectively enforced and that there is coherence between these resolutions and the administrative authorizations linked to hunting activity,” states Santana.
The minister also emphasizes the Cabildo's willingness to address this issue through dialogue among the different sectors involved. “We want this initiative to be built from consensus and with the participation of animal welfare associations, the hunting sector, the bodies and services involved in control, and political representatives. The objective is to improve the system and offer greater legal and control guarantees,” he adds.
Agreements adopted
Among the approved agreements is the creation of a working group composed of animal welfare associations, hunting associations, the Hunting and Animal Welfare departments of the Cabildo, SEPRONA, and representatives of the political groups present in the Corporation, with the aim of developing a joint legislative initiative to be transferred to the Government of the Canary Islands.
Likewise, the Cabildo will establish as a criterion for action that, during the processing of applications for the granting and renewal of hunting licenses, the existence of firm criminal or administrative disqualifications that legally prevent the exercise of hunting activity be verified, proceeding to deny the license when such a cause occurs, in accordance with the provisions of article 29 of Law 7/1998, of Hunting of the Canary Islands.
The agreement also urges the Government of the Canary Islands to promote the necessary legislative modifications so that persons convicted by a final criminal sentence for animal cruelty offenses may be expressly disqualified from obtaining or renewing hunting licenses for the period that is legally determined, taking into account the nature, seriousness, and circumstances of the offense.
In this regard, the proposal specifically contemplates those cases in which a final sentence has established a penalty of disqualification from owning animals or the deprivation of the right to own and carry weapons.
Finally, the Cabildo will forward the agreement to the Government of the Canary Islands, the Parliament of the Canary Islands, and the parliamentary groups, as well as to the Government of Spain and the parliamentary groups of the Congress of Deputies, with the aim of studying the legislative modifications that may be necessary within their respective areas of competence.
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