I’ve received this urgent appeal from the Bright Eyes Society – a Spanish hunter is due to appear in court and funds are needed by the charity to fight the case. This is their message.
Some of you will probably remember the rescue of more than 50 podenco ibicenco dogs in the island of Ibiza in May last year.
This followed our legal procedure against Bartolomé Mari Ribas, the breeder and hunter who for more than 15 years had kept his dogs in the most appalling conditions imaginable, starving, thirsty, many very sick, on the very road, where they kept getting hit by vehicles and dying or becoming crippled to add to their suffering.
The neighbours had complained countless times due to the danger that the animals meant on the road.
Many tourists also complained because of the dreadful state in which they saw the broken walking skeletons but many people were afraid of this man in Ibiza and he was allowed to go on with his unspeakable activities.
As a result of our legal intervention last year the dogs were taken away by the police on a big raid together with some animal protection organizations. On November 24th will be the trial of this individual and we will be there.
If he gets convicted he will have to pay a fine, as in Spain there is no jail for a “first time” offender of this kind but then once he has a record he could go to jail if he keeps breaking the law.
He is now pleading insanity (only in this matter!) so we need to prove otherwise or they will let him go to keep doing whatever he wishes with the dogs from now on. But…all this costs money! We need to hire the services of professionals from the mainland, and the expenses keep mounting.
Why is it so important that we win this case? Because most of the worst animal abusers in Spain are hunters and we need to make an example of this one and set legal precedent in a country where animals are mere objects to use and abuse at will.
Your donation will be very appreciated to help us go on with this case until this man is properly punished for the dreadful mistreatment of hundreds and hundreds of dogs and to stop him from keep doing it.
Thank you! WWW.BRIGHTEYES.DK
NB You can donate by PayPal direct on their home page. If you have problems, as the paypal site is in Dutch, I have asked Bright Eyes to sort this out, and am waiting to hear back from them.