The organizations Igualdad Animal Mexico and Humane Society International delivered yesterday 160,000 citizen signatures to the Mexican Congress, demanding that lawmakers discuss and vote on constitutional reforms aimed at integrating animal protection into the Constitution. They pointed out that the reforms were approved in committees by the previous legislature, but their discussion in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies was postponed by the Political Coordination Board (Jucopo).
The organizations accused the coordinators of all political forces that make up the Jucopo of failing to address these reforms to articles 3, 4, and 73 of the Constitution. Among them are Ricardo Monreal Ávila (Morena), Noemí Berenice Luna Ayala (PAN), Carlos Alberto Puentes Salas (PVEM), Reginaldo Sandoval Flores (PT), Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez (PRI), and Ivonne Aracely Ortega Pacheco (MC). This omission has generated concern among animal rights defenders, who see an unjustified delay in the legal protection of these beings.
Dulce Ramírez, director of Igualdad Animal in Mexico, stated: "Now is the time for them to fulfill their word, their responsibility to the citizens, and their duty to animals." She questioned the delay in the voting in the plenary of the deputies and asked Mexican lawmakers to define their position: do animals count or not with you? The proposed reforms aim to establish a legal framework for animal protection in Mexico, including the obligation of the State to ensure their care and conservation, as well as to prohibit mistreatment.
They would allow Congress to legislate on this matter and include content on animal protection in the country's educational plans. The organizations highlighted that the citizen signatures in favor of the constitutional reforms reflect that animal protection is a priority issue for civil society, which demands a fairer world for all. Both Igualdad Animal Mexico and Humane Society International called on Mexican deputies to resume the discussion to bring animals into the constitution and warned that they will continue with actions alongside civil society to ensure that authorities fulfill their duty to animals.
