SPAMA wins court case over commercial pound rescue contract
ANIMAL shelter SPAMA has won its case against Gandia council over a commercial dog pound being awarded the job of taking in the town's stray pets – albeit a few months too late.
SPAMA, a charity-run rescue centre, was the official go-to point for waifs and strays for 20 years, but was unable to reapply for the job when the contract expired due to the 'impossible' terms that had been introduced.
These included a requirement for all workers to be salaried employees, not volunteers, and for facilities for horses, donkeys and farm animals to be set up, which SPAMA could not afford as it mainly relies upon donations from the public.
As a result, the contract went to Seproanimal, a forprofit dog pound and breeding centre which does not have a no-kill policy – unlike SPAMA and other charity shelters where animals are never put to sleep except on entirely humane grounds when they are in extreme and incurable pain.
Although Seproanimal has its own dedicated adoption centre, the fact that there could even be a slight risk of unclaimed but healthy pets being put to sleep after a given length of time meant residents who found strays or victims of illtreatment would continue to take them to SPAMA instead.
Also, Seproanimal's premises are in Vinaròs (Castellón province), meaning owners would have to travel at least 200 kilometres to collect a missing pet who had been found and handed in.
'Breach of contract terms'
SPAMA filed legal action, but Valencia provincial court threw the case out with a particularly scathing verdict against the charity rescue centre, hinting that its claim was rooted in 'sour grapes'.
An appeal to the regional Regional Supreme Court (TSJCV), however, has overturned the decision and rescinded the Seproanimal-Gandia council contract.
This does not, now, make a difference to SPAMA, which was recently awarded the job in a closed negotiation after Seproanimal's four-year deal came up for renewal.
The court agreed with SPAMA that the 2015 contract conditions were breached by the rescue job being awarded to a business rather than a shelter, and also because Seproanimal 'does not have its own animal centre (núcleo zoológico)' rather than a 'shared' one.
The legal term núcleo zoológico covers everything from zoos to breeding centres, boarding kennels, equestrian centres, pet shops and pet-care premises, and requires an appropriate licence.
The Gandia council contract terms specified in 2015 that the successful applicant must have its own licence and centre dedicated to animal rescue, not one also used as a boarding kennel or dog stud.
“The verdict may help other shelters in future”
SPAMA said on Facebook that it had 'mixed feelings' after hearing of the TSJCV verdict.
“On the one hand, we're happy that we've been proven right, since the outcome could help other shelters fighting to stop the local rescue contract being awarded to a commercial pound; but we're also very sad for those animals who did end up in the pound,” the shelter says.
Seproanimal's facilities are of top quality and the business employs its own on-site vet, so any animals who did end up there would have been very well cared-for – although SPAMA and its supporters are sceptical about whether any of them were put to sleep just to keep the numbers down.