In a new attempt to reach a referendum to demand for harsher penalties for animal abuse, activists scheduled a new public demonstration for next August 21st.
This was confirmed by Asociación para Bienestar y Amparo Animal (ABBA), which is the responsible for collecting the necessary signatures to promote the referendum to the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE).
The demonstration is at 10:00a.m. and will be starting from San José Central Park towards the Democracia square. There will be a concentration.
It will be the closure of the official process to collect signatures, and we will announce the date to begin with the review. More than 30 thousand people will participate,”
said Juan Carlos Peralta, president of ABBA.
They had collected 120,000 signatures to the end of July, but the goal is -at least- 220,000.
The draft of the law against animal abuse is pending in the Legislature and has already been approved in the first reading. However, it has to be presented for a constitutional consultation process.
Animal supporters ask between 1 and 3 years of prison to whoever causes the death of animals without a legitimate cause. The bill also contemplates prison punishment for poisoning, torturing, running over or inflicting any kind of physical attack on an animal. .If all the requirements are met, the TSE will make the call for referendum 3 months later.
The TSE has a budget of ¢ 2,470 million to cope with the eventual referendum.