by
Norma Contreras Hernández, Hans Th.A. Bressers, Louise Greathouse-Amador & Nadiezdha M.P. Crespo Rosas
Historically the protection of nonhuman animals has had to face losses and perseverance, there is a marked difference between the actions intended and its results. For example, the abolition of bullfights was at first considered unimaginable in the eighteen-century England, but succeeded. In the last decades nonhuman animal protection has been of rising interest worldwide even in countries facing poverty and strong inequality such as Mexico.
In Mexico the social importance of improving the relationship between nonhuman animals and humans is reflected in both the growth of legislative power and the number and influence of non-governmental nonhuman animal protection organizations (ANGOs). Currently there is a law or norm guiding almost every human activity in relation to nonhuman animals.
This study is designed to increase the understanding of these recent developments in nonhuman animal protection efforts and has two main objectives – one descriptive and one evaluative. The first is to describe the state of the art of the non-governmental organizations responsible for nonhuman animal protection in Mexico as well as the legal situation of nonhuman animals. The second objective is to evaluate the success in the creation of some of the nonhuman animal regulations. For this, the strategies used by the policymakers in 13 cases of regulatory actions are analyzed to understand which factors increase the likelihood of success in the creation of the nonhuman animal oriented regulations.
Five national ANGOs directories are analyzed, which forms the basis for listing and later conducting a systematic typology of the different types of activities taking place. Due to the newness of the cases, a considerable amount of information relies on electronic sources and in depth interviews that have been undertaking over the last 2 years.
The 13 cases are analyzed using the Contextual Interaction Theory. The cases selected include seven non-progressive municipal regulations (codifying existing social norms of good behavior) in the state of Puebla, and six progressive municipal regulations (forbidding ongoing practices and events) located in the sate of Veracruz. Puebla and Veracruz are neighboring states that share socio-economic characteristics.
The results found that:
(1) There has been a significant increase in the number of ANGOs, for example in the state of Puebla by 2005, only 3 ANGOs were identified and by 2013 there are 40. The ANGOs focus their activities mostly on the protection of nonhuman animals as companions and their mission is focused on creating education activities and neutering and spaying campaigns.
(2) Since 2011 a wave of progressive legislation for nonhuman animal protection has emerged at the three political levels (federal, state and municipal). These are considered progressive because they ban culturally embedded practices such as: bullfights, cockfights, nonhuman animal pulled carts, nonhuman animals used in circuses, nonhuman animals used in religious festivities, or they place nonhuman animal mistreatment into the states’ penal codes.
(3) The 13 in depth cases show that despite a high level of motivation expressed by the policymakers, it is mostly the approval of both the municipal councilors and the mayor that is a necessary condition for the success in the creation of animal oriented regulations at the municipal level.
These results are important to supporting the development and implementation of nonhuman animal protection legislation in Mexico.
Biographies:
Norma Contreras Hernández: Ph.D. student on Animal Protection Public Policies in Mexico, Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable Development (CSTM), Universiteit Twente, Building Ravelijn, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. E-mail: n.contrerashernandez@utwente.nl
Hans Th.A. Bressers: Professor Dr., Professor of Policy Studies and Environmental Policy, Head of the Department, Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable Development (CSTM), Universiteit Twente, Building Ravelijn, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. E-mail: j.t.a.bressers@utwente.nl
Louise Greathouse-Amador: Researcher professor of the graduate program in Language Sciences at Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (ICSyH) “Alfonso Vélez Pliego” Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) and member of the faculty of Discrimination, Violence and Peace Culture. Av. Juan de Palafox y Mendoza 208, Centro Histórico de Puebla, Postal Code 72000. E-mail: greatamador@gmail.com
Nadiezdha M.P. Crespo Rosas: MSc. student on Environmental Policy & Management, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, England. E-mail: nc14501@my.bristol.ac.uk
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