Spanish MEPs – Greyhounds Rescue Holland letter campaign updates

Greyhounds Rescue Holland’s letter campaign to the EU is hotting up.

Dear Galgofriends,

On 15th November 2011, Kartika Liotard informed us about the Answer to the Written Question. Read herewith.

EN
E-009212/2011
Answer given by Mr Dalli
on behalf of the Commission
(14.11.2011)

1. The Commission received in the past complaints concerning the maltreatment of greyhounds in Spain (“galgos”).

2. Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires in particular the Member States to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals in the context of certain Union’s policies. Article 13 does not apply to areas where the Union has no legal base to harmonise in the field of animal welfare.

3. The welfare of dogs is not governed by EU rules and this matter remains under the sole competence of the Member States.

4 to 7. As a consequence, the Commission does not envisage taking specific action regarding this issue and has no information regarding the Spanish system of sanctions.

8. Among the tools available under the Rural Development Programmes at EU level, support can be granted for measures aimed at the diversification of farming activities in rural areas. It should be stressed that any support given under Rural Development is subject to relevant conditions and controls as defined by EU legislation. Rural development programmes are implemented in shared management and it is the responsibility of Member States to ensure respect of these rules and conditions, including when selecting projects for financing. The Commission is not aware of any EU support having been granted to holdings acting as described by the Honorable Member.

9. In November 2010, the Council of the European Union called the Commission to perform studies on the welfare of dogs and cats . The issue of the welfare of dogs is being discussed in the context of the on-going preparation of a communication on a 2011-2015 EU strategy for the protection and welfare of animals. Possible actions for the protection of dogs with due regard to the principles of conferral and subsidiarity as laid down in the EU treaties might be considered.

Again the subsidiairity principle seems to withhold any action taken against Spain in this situation. Also, the Commission is unaware that there is a connection between EU subsidies and some of the perpetrators. However, with a budget of almost 1,5 billion euros and a payment towards Rural Development in Spain of E 866.250.086, such a connection might well be more than a rumor.

We haven’t received any response from Spanish politicians within the EU. We are trying to elicit such a response.

Should we receive any response, we will forward this to you, of course.

With warm regards,

Letty Ubbink

PR-team Greyhounds Rescue Holland

Letty, Linda & Lex.

www.greyhoundsrescue.org

They sent an email on 25th November to all Spanish MEP’s.

Dear Galgofriends,

In order to elicit a reaction, this morning we sent a the following mail, together with the attachments, to all Spanish members of the European Parliament, asking for their response to the Written Question and answer by the Commission. Here follows the English translation of the letter.

“Dear Sir, Madam,

After a campaign by more than 40 European organisations, a Written Question was asked concerning the situation of the galgos. The reply was received on the 14th November 2011.

Also, on the 4th October a letter was sent to the President of Spain by several members of the European Parliament urging Spain to take responsibility for this situation. Despite all this, no response has been received from either the President of Spain nor the Spanish politicians in the European Parliament.

You may be unaware of these actions. Therefore we respectfully ask for your response in this manner.

Looking forward to your reply.”

The letter has been signed in name of all the participating organizations. To ask for more attention, this letter has also been posted on the Facebook site of” Parlamento Europeo – Oficina de Información en España”. Should you wish to leave a comment on this Facebook site for the Spanish MEP’s, the link is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/ParlamentoEuropeo.ES . We do not know how long the post will last before it is removed, however….

With warm regards,

Letty Ubbink

PR-team

Greyhounds Rescue Holland

Letty, Linda & Lex.

www.greyhoundsrescue.org

UPDATE

Dear Galgofriends,

They do pay attention… The post on the official site only lasted around 12 minutes and was then removed. We have put in back under a personal name, but fear it will be removed again. We will keep on trying though.

Kind regards,

Letty

have been campaigning