Months after it was launched by an animal rights campaigner in Santarém, Portugal’s ‘Quebr’a Corrente’ (Break the Chain) movement is gaining traction.
It has been featured this week by the BBC (click here) -.which stresses that the practice of keeping dogs permanently chained is already illegal in Portuguese law.
Tânia Mesquita, the power behind the movement, explains that it’s often not a question of owners not loving their animals, rather of “financial difficulties” that stop them being able to give them the conditions they deserve.
Thus the “project of social activism”, designed to work with owners to show them there’s an alternative that will add quality to their animals’ lives – and very possibly extend them at the same time.
The damaging effects of life on a chain are all part of Quebr’a Corrente’s powerful message.
Volunteers have been working through the year at raising awareness and constructing “secure adequate spaces” for animals brought to their notice.
Says the BBC, Quebr’a Corrente is now operating nationwide and has so far “put up fencing for 26 dogs, and rescued six that need medical care”.
For more information, see the movement’s website (https://quebraacorrente.pt/) which has all the details of crowd-funding and links to Facebook that feature various videos showing chained dogs’ new realities (click here).
As for the online boost – courtesy of the UK’s public service broadcaster – the ‘mood’ this week is “feeling proud”.
