We don’t know whether or not to talk about a happy ending, in telling the odyssey of the dog Luno. We certainly know that his journey ended with his repatriation to Ecuador, contrary to what his owner Andrea Torres would have liked, who had arrived on March 13 with him from Costa Rica to Madrid, Spain. And that here he thought of stopping with his four-legged friend.
However, Luno does not have a microchip, so it is not possible to establish whether he has had the anti-rabies vaccine. For this reason he was first detained for twenty days in a room at the customs office in Barajas (Madrid’s main airport) and then sent to the Integral Animal Reception Center in the capital, where he spent – in quarantine – about eight months .
Meanwhile, the debate raged. The Ministry of Agriculture had immediately put forward two hypotheses: the repatriation or the suppression of the animal. Both Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the last countries Luno visited, are off the list of countries that don’t need a serological test to see if the dogs coming from there have had rabies.
Andrea was also legally assisted by the animal rights party Pacma and by the Association for the ethical and responsible management of abandoned animals (Ageraa). The case ended when the woman, who had run out of money in recent months and was no longer able to visit Luno, withdrew her complaint against the Ministry.
The good news is of course that the dog has not been put down. However, animal rights activists argue, instead of appealing to a questionable interpretation of European legislation, the best solution would have been to admit him in Spain after having vaccinated him.
Even if it didn’t close as its mistress wanted, the “Luno case” has in any case started a reflection that could not fall on deaf ears. After all, Spain should approve the animal welfare law in these weeks.
