Petition launched to save Benalmádena animal shelter that has served the town for 35 years
Fidelio must vacate the municipal plot it occupies in less than eleven months to make way for the new Spanish-Chinese Parque de la Amistad friendship park
In 1989, Fidelio, the Benalmádena animal shelter, was born. It did so thanks to the cession of a municipal plot of land in Benalmádena Pueblo and the will, determination and effort of Helen Elizabeth Williams and a group of volunteers, who built with their own hands the shelter for the town's abandoned dogs. Now, after more than 35 years, Fidelio has been forced to give up its space. The town council has begun to secure room for the Spanish-Chinese Parque de la Amistad friendship park, a project covering an area of more than 24,000 square metres that includes gardens, Buddhist temples and a cemetery, and which requires the plot of land occupied by the shelter.
What was Benalmádena's star project at the last edition of the Madrid tourism fair (Fitur) has thus crossed Fidelio's path. On 30 July, the town tall announced the signing of an agreement by which the entity undertook to "vacating the municipal space" it occupied and that it had offered "its relocation to other municipal plot, which has a technical viability report for its use as a zoological centre", located in the Santángelo area.
The agreement marked the beginning of the countdown for Fidelio. The shelter now has one year to leave the premises and find a foster home for the more than 30 dogs it has taken in. However, the council said that it regrets that the organisation has decided to "withdraw from the activity and dissolve the shelter, due to various reasons, including the forthcoming retirement of its president". But members of the organisation hit back, saying: "What is happening is that Helen, the president, has been forced to sign the agreement, and she feels that what she has built up over all these years is going down the drain and she no longer has the strength to carry on and start again from scratch."
A group of volunteers has started a campaign to collect signatures that has already accumulated more than 3,600 supporters to keep the shelter open "as long as there is no alternative"
For this reason, a group of volunteers from the organisation have started a campaign to collect signatures on the change.org platform, which has already accumulated 3,958 supporters, and they have launched an initiative of support and dissemination on social media networks. The volunteers are asking "to keep Fidelio open as long as there is no alternative", to continue "rescuing and collecting animals without any type of restriction" and that "the municipal government explains what its plan of action is".
No new arrivals
The last two claims are made on the grounds that the town hall does not allow them to take in more abandoned dogs because the target set by the council - which they have promised to support through awareness campaigns and open days - is to find foster homes for the dogs currently at the Benalmádena Pueblo facilities. “But we already know what will happen: no one will take in the most problematic and oldest dogs,” said Yana Harris, one of the organisation’s more than 60 regular volunteers, who also pointed out that the plot offered in Santángelo does not meet the necessary conditions.
The town hall said that it is making "an unreserved commitment" to create a protective shelter, and that it has a contract for this purpose with the Paraíso centre, a zoosanitary centre which last month had taken in more than 30 animals collected in Benalmádena. "Fidelio no longer takes in animals; there are empty cages, and I myself called the Local Police to collect a dog, and they offered me no solution. So, if this is the situation, at the very least what should be done is not to destroy a shelter that took so much effort to build, to allow animals to continue being taken in and to postpone the relocation until an alternative is available," Harris said.
