Even cultural traditions are no longer an argument for torturing animals in Colombia since 2024! “No more Olé” is now the law in Colombia: the South American country is putting an end to its long tradition of bullfighting. The ban is to be fully implemented by 2027 and is intended to protect animals.
“We cannot tell the world that the killing of living and sentient beings for entertainment purposes is culture” was the reason given. That’s great.
First and foremost, it’s about natural rights
And this nature naturally includes all living beings.
In Colombia it states: “Nature has rights that are independent of us, and these rights must be respected.”
It would be nice if other countries would finally realize this, like Spain, Portugal and France, where bullfighting is still legal.
For me, the best thing is to watch animals in freedom. If only we would all finally leave them alone.
No rights for animals in Germany
Incidentally, animals have no rights in Germany. Even if animals are no longer regarded as objects, they have no rights that are legally enforceable. Nor are they placed on the same legal level as humans. In contemporary animal ethics, it is quite controversial whether animals can have moral rights. Skeptics point out, for example, that they are not the recipients of duties and therefore cannot be legal entities. However, hardly anyone denies animals a moral status.
A forest claims rights in Colombia
In Colombia, the forest can now claim its own rights: since April 2018, the Colombian Amazon has had the same rights as a person. And this means that animals, as part of nature, also have rights.
I can guess what many people are now thinking: this must also be implemented. Yes, that is the challenge now. But at least a step has been taken and people are aware that we can’t just exploit our planet and take it for granted. We must also help to preserve it. It is perhaps more of a symbolic ruling. This would allow nature, for example, to negotiate on an equal footing with commercial enterprises. Companies would have to fear being taken to court, so it would make sense to talk to all parties in advance, including representatives of nature.
Nature, as the bearer of its own rights, would then have a claim to natural existence that protects it from negative human impact.
“Nature as a subject of rights” has nothing to do with the romanticism of nature and I can see a lot of merit in the idea that humans do not have unlimited sovereignty over nature and creation. We seem to have to defend nature and its natural resources against invasive industrial enterprises.
Climate protection is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time and, in addition to individual rethinking, requires global and progressive yet balanced solutions.
And for those who are now rolling their eyes: for centuries, children had no rights, foreigners, women, the mentally ill or indigenous people. And whenever someone proposed giving rights to a group that previously had none, there was fierce resistance.
An example of how people in Germany didn’t give a damn about nature and animals, and I do remember clearly
In 1988, Hamburg lawyer Michael Günther tried to have the North Sea seals sue the then Federal Minister of Transport because of the ongoing poisoning of their habitat. He had approved the dumping of toxic dilute acid in the North Sea and hundreds of seals died as a result – but the lawsuit was dismissed. Seals are things in the legal sense and therefore cannot be sued, it was said at the time.
Fortunately, a lot has changed in Germany since then. In 1990, the German Bundestag decided that animals should no longer be treated as objects in legal terms. And since 2002, the protection of animals has been enshrined in the Basic Law as a national objective.
Back to Colombia
A few sad facts that make it clear that a law alone is obviously not enough:
Around 25% of Colombia’s wetlands have disappeared in recent decades, mainly as a result of mining activities, deforestation and river pollution. The government planned to revive the gold and copper markets in 2018-2022. In addition, 161 new oil drilling sites were planned for 2022. Four times more than the 46 existing sites in 2018.
According to the Colombian government, air pollution causes at least 17,500 deaths every year. According to Greenpeace data, Colombia is the fifth most polluted country in Latin America (after Mexico, Chile, Peru and Brazil).
The Dogs on the streets in Colombia
A growing number of cities have taken measures to protect animals. The initiatives and strategies focus on the management of stray animals and public shelters, vaccinations, sterilizations and the reporting of animal cruelty. There has been a flood of reports of animal cruelty and this in turn has led to the creation of a special group to combat animal abuse (GELMA) to deal with these cases.
Of course, this does not happen everywhere in Colombia. In some regions we see terribly abandoned dogs on the verge of starvation. We can’t help. Perhaps we could, but there are so many of them. Now, of course, we could morally condemn the people there. But the poverty in these areas cannot be overlooked either. We always have a bit of food with us. They don’t always want to eat. Their will to live has long since been broken. And I don’t know whether it just prolongs their suffering. It won’t save them.
We can answer the question of whether we want to come back home at all with a definite “yes”. We are looking forward to our families, friends, work and Berlin. And I’m looking forward to a little less suffering in my daily field of vision. I know it exists, it won’t go away, but some days I just can’t really bear it anymore.
Two dogs, two fates. Our world is often pretty unfair. Klaus and me, we are so outrageously lucky to be in the category in the second photo.
We save a few butterflies from the road and a turtle, we are happy about playful little pigs playing catch, about the horses galloping across the unfenced meadows.
“Attention animals” signs
The “Attention animals” signs are adapted to the regional animal inhabitants. So it can happen that a succession of local fauna is depicted on the same road within a very short space of time. And I admire the signs with all the animals, because it’s not just the big ones that might cause damage to a car. It’s much more the many small animals that are worth protecting and maybe it’s enough to drive a little slower. I often don’t know exactly which animal it is supposed to represent, but it doesn’t matter.
Nevertheless, we also see some dead animals along the road, like this anteater and the crocodile.
And this one here has nothing to do with animals, it’s supposed to indicate that headlights must be dipped. But it’s still cute when it winks at us 🙂
