Expats In Denia Fear Shelter Dogs Will Be Killed If Not Rehomed Within Two Months

Dog shelter volunteers fear takeover by for-profit company will result in mass euthanasia.

A much-loved municipal dog shelter in Spain’s Denia City is about to be taken over by a commercial for-profit company with the agreement of the local municipality, sparking fears it will become simply a ‘kill station’ for rescued dogs. Its previous management APAD have worked tirelessly to rescue, care for and re-home the city’s strays, promoting animal rights and their zero euthanasia policy.

According to the group and the vets who work with the dogs, the shelter is being taken over by Serproanimal SL, a money-making, dog breeding company with its own crematorium and a policy stating that rescued dogs who’ve not been re homed after two months will be put to sleep. In order to increase expat and local awareness of the situation, the shelter’s management have started a bilingual Change.org petition, to date registering over 17,000 signatures.

According to APAD, the reason they lost out during the first stage of the tender to operate the shelter is that the requirements were not clearly set out, leaving the volunteers unable to understand the financial rules and strict protocols. As a result, the shelter’s volunteers and seven workers will lose €137,000 and it’s not clear as yet as to the fate of the rescued dogs. Serproanimal SL is a for-profit business serving 59 separate municipalities in the Valencia region, with today the latest date for their proposal to be submitted.

Once in, the local municipality will have 15 days to either accept or reject it, during which time the fate of the dogs in the shelter’s care will hang in the balance. It’s to be hoped the petition will help councillors realise Serproanimal SL’s bid is not in the best interests of the shelter, its dogs and those who’ve been caring for them over the past seven years.