Suffering for Bernabe at Peropalo festival
One year more, we attended the annual Peropalo festival in Villanueva de la Vera, Spain which occurs every Shrove Tuesday. Unfortunately, we were hugely disappointed to witness an hour-long barrage of abuse and cruelty inflicted on Bernabe.
His well-mannered nature was taken full advantage of and the event lasted longer and Bernabe endured more suffering than ever before. Bernabe was used in Peropalo 2018 and appeared again today, looking much thinner and with hooves in poor condition. Hundreds of people, many intoxicated by alcohol, clambered around and over Bernabe throughout the procession. Among the boisterous crowds were men constantly firing shotguns within earshot of Bernabe. The event was extremely stressful for him and it was not his choice to be there.
In 2018 we called for an end to the use of a donkey in the Peropalo festival, asking our supporters to sign a petition, which we delivered to the regional authority, Junta de Extremadura, during 2018. We thank every single one of the 24,229 supporters who added their voice to our own, helping to make our call for change to be heard.
Our collection of evidence will be used to file a report to the government that animal cruelty occurred and we will continue to call for an end to the use of a donkey in the Peropalo festival.
Veronica Sanchez, director at El Refugio del Burrito, says: “We are extremely frustrated by the broken promises from locals, but we will not let it thwart our campaign to do the right thing for donkeys like Bernabe.
“Instead – and with the strength of your support behind us – we will double down our efforts to implore the regional government to introduce legislation which removes animals from this terrifying situation.
“Poor Bernabe, and the donkeys before him, do not deserve to be treated with such disrespect and it is deplorable to inflict such abuse and cruelty on an animal in the name of any tradition.”
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We can only continue to rescue and care for donkeys with your help, so please continue to support the work of El Refugio del Burrito, as together, we can make a big difference.