Over 11,000 Emergency Calls About Animals Received So Far This Year

THE emergency telephone number of the Valencian community, 112, received a total of 11,307 calls related to the rescue of animals and other issues related to fauna and flora, between January 1 and Tuesday, August 15, 2023.

The largest number of calls, 11,177, were related to animals, followed by incidents due to contamination (81) and flora (40), reported the Generalitat Valencia.

More than half of the incidents, 58 per cent, were related to the loss or abandonment of pets.

Also included were cases of aggression and mistreatment, pets that were trapped or that showed aggression.

In relation to protected species, 24 per cent of the calls were related to these, when they had become trapped in places of difficult access or were injured. Nine per cent of the calls corresponded to beehives or wasps in homes, buildings or on public roads.

Infringement of hunting rules and illegal fishing accounted for the remaining 1 per cent of calls, regarding hunting in areas that are not allowed, out of season, without a licence, or of prohibited species.

Increase in incidents in summer.

The detection of marine animals, alive or dead, both on land and in coastal waters, represented two per cent of calls.

These are sightings of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and pilot whales), sea turtles, sharks, blue sharks or jellyfish. Incidents related to this type of species increase in the summer months and 66 were received in June and 48 in July.

Regarding the months of the year, July was the one with the highest number of incidents, with a total of 2,426 calls handled.

It was followed by June with 2,439 calls and May with 1,552.

In the provincial distribution, Valencia received 5,134 incidents, Alicante 4,650 and Castellon 1,447.

For each type of incident, the 112 emergency telephone number is assigned a different protocol.

In some cases, the notice is sent to the Fauna Recovery Centre of the Valencian Community, in others to the Guardia Civil or the Local Police.

Other organisations that collaborate in these services are the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre or the Sea Animals Recovery and Conservation Area (ARCA) of the Oceanogràfic Foundation.