“There are operators of house tours that approach tourists on the beaches or along roads offering horse riding at low, low prices. Tourists, thinking of saving money, accept,” says Katya Bader. “But the horses may be in bad condition, overworked or dehydrated, or they may have sores."
A new law bans circuses in Mexico from featuring animals in shows and only allows circuses to keep animals if they have the proper permits and keep the animals in good living conditions.
A UCR study in the Pacific region found the animals most affected by speeding motorists were anteaters, raccoons, ocelots, mice, foxes and vultures. Similar investigations have found dead tapirs, sloths, ocelots, otters, snakes and frogs on major routes in the provinces of Guanacaste, San José and Limón.
Recent cases of aggression against animals in Costa Rica have prompted animal rights advocates and everyday citizens to pressure lawmakers to pass an Animal Welfare Bill currently awaiting discussion in the Legislative Assembly.
Karin Haud, founder and director of Animales de Asís, a rescue and adoption center, laments that “too many dogs and cats, especially pregnant females, are abandoned. All the refuge centers are full, and still we find abandoned mothers with pups and kittens.”
Inspectors from the National Animal Health Service are struggling to manage more than 400 neglected dogs discovered during farm inspections following last week's phreatic eruptions at the Turrialba Volcano, northeast of San José.
Following a meeting with animal rights groups, Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís on Sunday evening promised the executive branch would include a bill against animal cruelty as a priority for approval in the Legislative Assembly starting next month.
Research by the University of Costa Rica’s (UCR) Ecotourism School has found that speeding drivers are the main cause of death of wildlife on roads in Costa Rica's Pacific region.
On Sept. 7, cowboys from across the Americas and as far away as New Zealand will flock to Costa Rica's National Stadium for the country's first-ever American-style rodeo event. Competitors will test their skills in calf roping and cattle herding and try their luck riding on the backs of Costa Rica's most fearsome bulls.
The Costa Rican Environment Ministry’s plans to revamp the country’s public zoos and turn them into cage-less bioparks came to a halt last week, when an administrative court granted zoo administrators Fundazoo another 10-year management contract.
