The Santander Declaration stands up to animalist ideology

2023-12-13 00:45:39

This afternoon, the Magdalena Palace in Santander witnessed the signing of the Santander Declaration against animalism and anti-speciesism. A firm that has been supported by the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation, ASAJA, Fundación Toro de Lidia, UCTL, Alianza Rural, animal sports associations and the 11 associations that make up the Federation of Meat Breeds of Cantabria but that already extends worldwide. . Associations and companies can join the manifesto through the website declaraciondesantander.com.

Under the subtitle of “commitment to our culture, tradition, economy and environment”, the Santander Declaration represents civil society’s rejection of the imposition of animalist ideology. A doctrine that would mean the denial of the rural world, which has been built on an ancient relationship between man and animals.

Pedro Barato, president of ASAJA, stated that “this ideology represents an unprecedented threat to the very existence of rural communities, whose practices and cultures have been intrinsically linked to livestock farming for millennia.” Barato called this ideology “a destructive utopia that not only endangers humanist civilization, but also threatens the continuity of rural landscapes and the historical relationship between humans and animals.”

For his part, Manuel Gallardo, president of the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation, stated that “legislation referring to animal welfare has succumbed to ideology and good animalism where one must love the dog more than one’s child instead of taking into consideration “which calls into question the evolutionary process of the human species itself, since it is the set of experiences, traditions, customs and cultures that have allowed us to develop as people.”

In relation to sports with animals, Manuel Gallardo added that they are at “risk of disappearing” if legislation continues against common sense: “Sports like paddle tennis begin to receive sanctions for the impacts of birds against the walls of the courts, horse riding, fishing or hunting itself.

Francisco Pérez, president of the Association of Cantabrian ranchers “La Socarreña”, stated in his speech that “we fill our mouths with rural Spain and then we see that things are done that make it impossible for us. And if the city animal activists get their way, all these towns will disappear.

The president of the Toro de Lidia Foundation, Victorino Martín, closed the event with the reading of the manifesto and with the statement that “it is a pride to be surrounded by people who have made animals the center of their life and their culture and “who are willing to defend that way of understanding the world.”