Stories1 min(s) read
Published 14:27 29 Jun 2020 GMT
A Spanish zoo is facing calls to close after an image of a seal that had been so neglected that it became covered in seaweed started circulating online.
Per The Sun, animal rights activist group, AnimaNaturalis, want the zoo in the Magdalena Peninsula, Santander, shuttered, and have denounced it as a "throwback to the bad old days."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AnimaNaturalis/status/1276091001321533442]]
Images of unhappy looking animals at the zoo in question have been making the rounds on social media, and there is now a petition that is angling for its closure.
According to AnimaNaturalis, at the time of writing, more than 6,000 have signed their letter of protest to Santander council.
The charity's head, Aïda Gascón, has claimed that the seal covered in green algae "seems to be letting itself die", due to the conditions it has been presented with.
Local councilor, Daniel Fernández, corroborated: "Those pictures convey an image of inconceivable and disgraceful treatment of animals when we see things like the sea lion pen with no water. This would be unacceptable anywhere in the world, but it is even more surprising in a city that wants to position itself as a tourist attraction."
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDiBXcgvsuk&feature=emb_logo]]
However, opposition parties have had little luck as a motion demanding to shut the zoo was tabled before the city council.
Additionally, a Change.org petition to close the Magdalena mini-zoo, which has been operational since the 1980s, has currently garnered 26,000 signatures.
Santander Mayor, Gema Igual, has since denied that the animals have been mistreated by the mini-zoo. Igual, of the conservative Popular Party, said that images of the seal in question had been "taken out of context".
"That photo was of a sleeping animal, and the dead sea lion was not in a place people could see it because it was known to be ill," she added.
