Adeje Town Hall's Animal Welfare Department, under councillor José Antonio López Delgado, has organised the 1st Animal Welfare Conference, which will take place on 16 and 17 January. This initiative has been launched with the aim of raising public awareness about the importance of animal care and responsible ownership, promoting adoption and recognising the work carried out by animal shelters, associations and professionals linked to animal welfare. The programme is structured over two distinct days. Friday 16 January will be dedicated to talks and will take place in the Adeje School of Music Auditorium, while Saturday 17 January will be held in the Plaza Pedro Zerolo, with outreach activities and exhibitions open to all audiences.
José Antonio López explained that the conference “forms part of the department’s strategic work plan, which is committed to awareness-raising, training and collaboration with the local network of associations as key pillars for moving towards responsible and ethical management of animal welfare in Adeje”. The councillor also underlined that “this is not a one-off action, but an ongoing process that combines education, prevention and action”, and highlighted the importance of “involving the public from an early age in order to continue building respectful coexistence within the municipality”.
Programme
The first day, with a training focus, will take place on 16 January from 10am to 1pm and is aimed at exploring different areas related to education, conservation and animal-assisted intervention. The programme begins at 10am with a talk on the illegal trafficking of exotic fauna in the Canary Islands, given by Jaime de Urioste from the Fundación Neotrópico de Tenerife, focusing on rescuing and protecting non-native species. At 11am the Proyecto Iocus Activitae Adeje will be presented by Esther Linares Mateo. Finally, at 12 noon, there will be a talk on canine education and animal welfare given by María Yoamna Benitez Suárez, director of Zen Dog, addressing the key elements for balanced coexistence between people and dogs.
The second day, 17 January, is open to the general public and created as a family-friendly meeting space, running from 10am to 5pm. Throughout the day, visitors will be able to see an exhibition with information stands from local animal shelters and associations, as well as children’s activities such as face painting. At 10am the official opening will take place, led by the councillor and hosted by Nacho Palacios. At 11:30am Juan Carlos Gaspar Cabrera from Gascan will offer a practical session on dog interactions and canine body language, aimed at improving understanding of animal behaviour. At 12:30pm there will be a demonstration by the Adeje Local Police K9 Unit, focusing on obedience and detection exercises. The afternoon programme includes storytelling, a talk on using a lead, Lead handling given by Fenja Mentzy from Wow Dogtrainer Fenja.
All events will be in Spanish.
