Axarquia council cat cull questioned

OPPOSITION political parties have spoken out after Velez-Malaga Council unveiled a plan to cull hundreds of stray cats.

The free-roaming felines are concentrated around the municipal cemetery, and the Izquierda Union (IU) coalition has demanded answers.

Spokesman Miguel Angel Sanchez said in a press conference that his team have sent a letter to Mayor Antonio Moreno Ferrer after being tipped off about the scheme by animal rights group Asociacion Defensa Animal (ADA).

ADA members told the official that a contract for the capture and potential killing of the animals had been handed to a company responsible for the collection of abandoned animals.

Mr Sanchez added that the ‘stable’ cat colony has a special symbolism for people who come to the graveyard to visit the tomb of Spanish philosopher Maria Zambrano, who was born in Velez.

The cats represent “the love and defence that the thinker showed towards these animals in life,” he said.

He went on to question why such a plan is necessary when a motion to set up a pilot sterilisation and release scheme had been approved by the council in June 2016.

“Based on that motion, we have taken advantage of our right to information not only related to this specific case, but also to demand compliance with the existing agreement regarding the coexistence, defence and protection of animals,” he concluded