translated from Spanish: Historic: First mistreatment of animal abuse in a rodeo is declared admissible

In an unprecedented fact in national jurisprudence, the High Bridge Guarantee Court declared admissible the animal abuse complaint filed by the Vegetarianos Today Foundation, made from two cases in the medialuna of Pirque, in which electroshock was used against steers to force them to continue participating in the activity. When this claim was accepted it became the first in the field of animal abuse performed in a rodeo. Regarding the events that motivated the claim, the first occurred last September 18, when in the crescent “Vicente Huidobro”, in the commune of Pirque, two people applied current to a steer who was fallen and tired to stop it and so will continue the rodeo. In the file it is expressed that “Two unidentified male subjects (…), finding themselves inside the crescent in front of a black steer that was falling inside the crescent, one of them proceeds to take with his right hand some of earth from the floor to put it on the nose to the steer and cover its nostrils. Subsequently, the other of these subjects proceeds to apply electric current on the sides of the animal on several occasions using an electroshock device or taser that he keeps hidden under his poncho”. The second case dates from 21 September last, when, according to the claim, a man “proceeds to apply electric current using an electroshock device or taser on the left side of the animal and the genital back area on at least four occasions, without getting the steer up.” Both cases were recorded and subsequently viralized on social media. The videos are part of the evidence to be presented at the trial. The use of electrical stimulus equipment in animals, as regulated in Law 20.380, and Article 16 thereof, states that “the rules of this law shall not apply to sports involving animals, such as rodeo, cow cumshots, , the movement to rein and equestrian sports, which will be governed by their respective regulations”. With this in mind, they add that “it is important to mention the existence of article 291 Bis of the Penal Code, which sanctions the abuse or cruelty towards animals, which can be reported directly to the Public Prosecutor’s Office by any citizen.” Here’s the record of one of the cases that motivated the claim:

Original source in Spanish