CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico- The mistreatment suffered by a giraffe named Benito in a public park in Ciudad Juárez, on Mexico’s northern border, has sparked outrage among animal activists, who accuse the authorities of promoting his “slow death.” “.
A dozen activists have painted a mural on the border between Ciudad Juárez and the US city of El Paso, Texas, to demonstrate against animal abuse and what they classify as the slow sacrifice of Benito at the hands of politicians in power.
Just on June 1 of last year, citizens were shocked by the death of the giraffe Modesto, who lived for 20 years in the Central Park of Ciudad Juárez, where he was one of the attractions of the place, administered by the state government of Chihuahua.
In mourning, on May 4, the Chihuahua government presented the new giraffe, baptized Benito, about 12 feet tall and 3 years old, from the Fiesta Safari Zoo in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
But the activists denounced to EFE that the conditions in which Benito is living are not indicated and that they will only cause his early death.
“They want the same thing that happened to Modesto to happen to Benito, that is, that he die, that the poor giraffe continue to suffer for days and years and there they are going to bury the poor animal, and it’s not worth it,” said Perla Cristina Vázquez, from the Hogar de Perritas de Amor rescue group.
The activists affirmed that the corral is too small, that it has nowhere to protect itself from the sun or the rain, that it is very poorly fed because food is scarce and that they allow visitors to give it food.
In addition, the climate of the city is too extreme for a giraffe, since in the summer it can be up to 45 degrees Celsius and in the winter it can drop to 10 degrees below zero.
Three groups of animalists have symbolically closed the central park where the giraffe is and have protested against the “sacrifice” of the animal.
“It is an aberrational thing, very sad, unfortunate, it makes me sad that the public supports politicians, because (this is) sacrificing a giraffe,” Vázquez reproached.
According to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these animals face “silent extinction” because their population has decreased by 40% in the last 30 years.
“Animals are universal, giraffes must be protected worldwide, both the United States and Mexico, and we want the giraffe here to live like giraffes are living in the United States, there is already a sanctuary that receives giraffes in Dallas,” Susana said. Rentería Ochoa, from the organization Somos Su Voz.
“We cannot have an animal as an attraction, they are not attractions,” added the activist.
The denouncement mural can be seen from El Paso and from the top of the Paso del Norte International Bridge.
“We are his voice, let’s save Benito. Central Park is not a Zoo”, says the illustration.
