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Date Published: 04/05/2022

ARCHIVED - Horse drops dead at Seville fair from exhaustion

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Animal rights group demands that live animals no longer be used in the Andalucía festival

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Horse drops dead at Seville fair from exhaustion

The Party Against Animal Abuse (Pacma) in Spain has revealed the disturbing news that a horse has died at Seville’s famed April Fair as a result of “heat and overexertion”.

The Andalucía Feria de Abril celebration, held in May this year, is the municipality’s largest fiesta, and sees thousands of people throng the streets to enjoy the traditional flamenco dancing and local food and drink.

But the darker side of the April Fair, according to Pacma, is that several animals faint during the celebrations every year and it has called on the City Council of Sevilla for “the immediate cessation of the use of animals”.

According to the group, the unfortunate horse died some time over the weekend on Presidente Adolfo Suarez Avenue, close to the fairground.

The festival returned this May after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing with it the “cruel exploitation” of animals, in Pacma’s words.

“The return of activity has brought several thousand animals, especially horses, out onto the streets to be used as a means of transport for locals and visitors. The streets, brimming with lights and fuss, combined with the increased volume of work, could be subjecting the animals to high levels of stress.”

Using animals in live celebrations and parades has long been a contentious issue in Spain, and after Christmas dozens of famous names in the cultural and performing arts spheres called on the government to stop using animals in the Three Kings processions.

This is not the first time that Pacma has raised the issue of the Seville Fair either; in 2016 a horse collapsed on the streets and was unable to get up and more recently, the group recalls “the death of another draft horse, probably from lack of water and exposure to high temperatures with no place to shelter from the sun”. In 2018, yet another equine died when its owner failed to feed or water it for the entire day.

As a result of the latest loss, Pacma is considering “legal measures holding both the Sevilla City Council and the Andalucían government responsible.”

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Image: Pacma

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