Animal rights activists aim to save rooster

ANIMAL rights activists are suggesting using a rooster made of cloth instead of a real animal in this year’s Pi de Sant Antoni festival in Mallorca.

BALDEA – a federation of animal protection associations in Mallorca – submitted a request to Pollença Council asking it to consider using a fake rooster in the traditional festivity that will be held on Saturday (January 17) on Plaça Vella. 

According to BALDEA, the council is violating Law 1/92 that prohibits using live animals in festivities where they can be subjected to torture, suffering, mistreatment, or even die. Should the council continue breaking the law, they would take the appropriate measures, they warned.

Held every year on January 17, part of the festivity includes placing the trunk of a pine tree on the town square once its branches and bark have been removed. 

After smearing it with soap and eggs, the most adventurous town residents try to climb all the way to the top of the tree where there is a rooster sitting in a basket.

The rooster is the symbol of Pollença and can be seen in the town’s crest.