The Tías City Council has defended the actions of the members of Civil Protection in the face of the discovery of a dead angelshark stranded on the municipality's coast. The council has stated that the workers "followed the correct instructions according to the action protocol for wild fauna, so they cannot be accused of abandonment or recklessness."
The first deputy mayor and councilor of the area, Nicolás Saavedra, recalls that the competence to remove the corpse of a dead animal found in Lanzarote is of the authority agents, such as the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard, environmental agents and the Local Police.
The action protocol of the authority agents is to collect the animal, freeze it and send it to Gran Canaria so that the National Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) performs a necropsy and identifies the causes of its death.
Nicolás Saavedra explains that Civil Protection was notified of the stranding by the Local Police of Tías, who had received a call from a swimmer. "When the members of Civil Protection arrived at the area, they verified the state of the animal through a video call with the Accidental Wildlife service, responsible for determining if the specimen is alive or dead."
When it is alive, Accidental Wildlife collects it and transfers it to the veterinary clinic with which it has an agreement or to the recovery center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote. In the event that it is dead, it notifies the Environmental Agents of the Cabildo of Lanzarote to remove the corpse, freeze it in their refrigerators and send it to Gran Canaria.
"In this case, when the members of Accidental Wildlife arrived, they verified that the animal was dead and it is at that moment when Civil Protection finished its service. From here, the staff of Accidental Wildlife is in charge of the corpse of the animal and of contacting the environmental agents of the Cabildo."
The Tías City Council has tried to contact the corresponding department of the Cabildo of Lanzarote to gather information about the abandonment of the animal, but has not received a response.
