Last week, Mexicoās Senate approved historic legislation that, once ratified by the states, will enshrine animal protection in the Constitution.
The bill was passed unanimously by the Chamber of Deputies on Nov. 12 (450-0) and, on Nov. 20, the Senate approved the measure unanimously as well (117-0). The legislation must now be approved by a majority of Mexicoās 32 local congresses to become law.
The new law amends three articles of the Constitution and empowers Congress to enact animal welfare laws. It also mandates the humane treatment of animals as a mandatory guideline in all educational institutions nationwide.
The Humane Society International (HSI) praised the legislation: āBy granting animal protection the highest importance in Mexicoās legal framework, the reform safeguards the legal protection granted to animals from being easily undone by future legislation.ā
The reform aims āto protect animals, guarantee their well-being, provide them attention, good treatment, maintenance, accommodation, natural development, health and avoiding abuse, cruelty, suffering, zoophilia and the deformation of their physical characteristics, as well as ensuring the animal health, [ā¦] and satisfactory treatment of and general welfare of animals,ā as per the bill’s text.
āWith this constitutional reform,ā said Anton Aguilar, executive director for HSI Mexico, āthe government has taken a significant step toward ensuring that the protection and welfare of animals become a priority in public policy.ā
Secondly, the reform requires all public schools to include the protection and welfare of animals within their curricula.
The reform also requires Congress to pass legislation that coordinates all federal, state and municipal laws related to animal protection and establishes penalties for violations.
According to El Economista, Senator Luis Donaldo Colosio of the Citizens Movement (MC) party said the reform is a crucial step toward making Mexico a country where all forms of life are respected. āEmpathy must transcend words and be reflected in our actions,ā he said.
Mexico is the third worst country in the world concerning the mistreatment of animals, according to a 2021 report by the national statistics agency INEGI. The survey revealed that more than 60,000 animals die annually in Mexico as a result of mistreatment.
Senator Paloma SĆ”nchez of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), citing past INEGI surveys, told the online publication LĆnea Directa that there are 80 million pets in Mexico, but approximately 70% of all dogs and cats are homeless.
āThis ā¦ reform has the power to transform the lives of millions of animals ā from stray dogs and cats enduring cruelty, disease and neglect, to the billions of farm animals exploited for food, and the countless wildlife threatened by illegal trade,ā HSI Director Aguilar concluded.
With reports from El Economista, LĆnea Directa, Wired and Humane Society International
BRAVO! Long overdue. It all begins with education in the schools. GREAT NEWS!
So maybe now hosting/attending and betting on dog/cock fights will be illegal!!
Great article. I pray that the majority of the 32 local congresses pass this law and that it it enforced. Making animal care part of the school curriculum will go a long way too depending on the teachers, materials, and creativity to bring the subject ‘alive’ and motivational.
Agree šÆ
The last paragraph discusses “billions of farm animals exploited for food”. Is this intended to include steaks, roast chickens, lamb, etc?
Related to this aspect ,I have no intention of eating insects in lieu of meat , as proposed by some of the wackos who believe this will “save the planet”. Nor will I switch to vegetarianism because it won’t save the planet either (although I would far sooner eat carrots than crickets)!
You might want to study the inhumane practices in factory farm agriculture: crammed and profoundly unsanitary living conditions; antibiotics and chemicals in their feed and water; maiming body parts of these animals, etc – all to fill the enormous appetite for ‘meats’. Not to mention these chemicals and stress hormones then transmitted into the meats you eat.
Often the wackos who want to save the planet are folks who deeply care about the humane treatment of ALL animals and ALL humans.
Eat what you will but do try to research what you are agreeing to with your food choices. One trip to a slaughter house, a research facility or a animal shelter on the day of euthanasias and I hope you might feel some empathy for the animals and the people who are trying to help them.
Kudos to Mexico for this legislation!!!! Viva Mejico!
Dr Dee Blanco, DVM
Long overdue and I hope it will be enforced.The streetdog problem comes from the fact that people let their dogs run loose and do not have them neutered,!Thatās where the problem starts.