Please Sign Our Petition to Protest The Upcoming Wild Parrot Hunt in Barcelona, Spain

A contact e-mailed me news that the Monk Parakeets of Spain are living on borrowed time. Apparently the City of Barcelona has authorized a program to wipe them out. So hunting will soon begin. The link to the article is here (it's in Spanish). Here is a translation of the article (thanks to Pat from the Quaker Parrot Society list for this:)

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The Hunting of the Argentina Monk Parrot as an exotic invasive species is authorized in Barcelona

There are 1,500 of the birds in Barcelona. The Department of Environment and Ecology has authorized for the first time the hunt of the Monk parrot of Argentina in consideration of its status as an exotic invasive species. The goal is to control the population and minimize the “negative” impact made on the environment.

It is estimated that in all of the province of Catalán, there are 2,000 of the birds, but 1,500 are in the city of Barcelona. They are rapidly reproducing in this capital city of Catalán and their nests are causing problems, since they build each with about 20,000 tree branches. Further, these nests weigh about 50 kilograms and can cause great damage to pedestrians if they fall on top of them.

Damage to crops
In Llobregat, 200 Monk parrots spoiled 50,000 tomatoes and half the corn of the area. Not only has the Monk parrot been conquering urban spaces, but in recent years has been spreading also to rural areas. The hunting of the American mink has also been authorized.
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This is what happens when cities fail to manage their populations of wild parrots via non-lethal means. Resorting to lethal means is an infallible indicator of gross mismanagement. Instead of investigating humane solutions, people reach for a "final solution." We've seen this happen in Connecticut, and now we're seeing it again in Spain.

My contact asks me whether anything can be done. Unfortunately, I have no contacts in Spain. But I have launched an online petition which you can sign. Please take a minute to do so: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/barcelonapetition/ (NOTE: There is a donation box which appears after you sign the petition. You don't have to donate to ipetitions.com - this is completely optional. If you don't want to donate, simply click your browser's "Back" button - your signature will still be recorded).

Here are additional steps you can take:

• Contact the President of Spain
  President of the Government of Spain
  His Excellecy José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
  Palacio de la Moncloa
  28071 Madrid
  Spain
  +34 913 900 217 (fax)
  jlrzapatero@presidencia.gob.es


• Contact the Spanish Interior Minister
  The Honourable Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
  Interior Minister
  Paseo de la Castellana, 5
  28046 – Madrid
  Spain
  +34 915371111
  +34 915371003 (fax)


• Contact the Spanish Environmental Minister
  The Honourable Cristina Narbona Ruiz
  Minister of the Environment
  Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz, s/n
  28071- Madrid
  Spain
  +34 91 5976000
  http://www.mma.es/portal/secciones/contacto/
  


• Contact the Spanish Consulate in New York. E-mail address: cog.nuevayork@mae.es; phone number: 212-355-4080.


• Contact the Spanish Embassy in Washington, DC. E-mail address: embespus@mail.mae.es.


• Contact the official Spanish Tourism Site. Use the site's CONTACT form (at the top of the page) to send E-mail.

Be polite but inform them that unless a non-lethal way is found to control the monk population in Barcelona, and unless this hunt is called off, you will do the following:

1. Refuse to visit Spain in the future.


2. Tell everyone you know who's going to Europe to avoid Spain, and specifically avoid the City of Barcelona.


3. Do not buy any products imported from Spain. Tell everyone you know that Spanish products should not be consumed.

There are probably other good ways to protest this incident of irresponsible animal cruelty. If you can think of any, please send me e-mail.

Ultimately, it will be up to the citizens of Barcelona whether they want to countenance this kind of cruelty. I would hate to think that Barcelona will forever be known as the "Capital of Cruelty to Parrots in Europe."