Animal rights group calls mass rally in Zaragoza, Spain over wild boar killed in bar

Amnistía Animal has called a demonstration for Saturday 24 October in Zaragoza, Spain, in memory of the wild boar that died after being killed in a bar in the city's historic quarter during the Fiestas del Pilar. The organisation is demanding a protocol to sedate and return to their habitat any wild animals that appear in the city.

The gathering is at **19.00** in Plaza de España, from where attendees will march to the bar El Jardín del Temple on calle del Temple. That is where the animal's run ended in the early hours of Sunday **18 October**, after it made its way through several central streets among trams, pedestrians and police vehicles. The event includes a space for leaving offerings and a proposal that goes beyond the city: establishing a World Wild Boar Day.

## A night-time run that ended inside a bar

The animal first appeared in the Asalto and Camino de las Torres area and continued along Paseo de la Independencia into the historic quarter. Numerous residents filmed its passage through the middle of the festive night. Inside the establishment it charged at a woman, causing several injuries. The owner of the premises and other people present killed the wild boar with a bladed weapon.

Amnistía Animal has announced legal action against the individuals involved, the establishment and the **Zaragoza City Council**, which it criticises for its handling of the incident. It has also asked for the public's help in locating witnesses and footage that could reconstruct what peine.

## The demand: sedate rather than kill

The organisation argues that the animal's death was an injustice and insists that specialised professionals should be the ones to handle wild fauna in urban environments. Its proposal is to sedate the animal without violence and return it to its natural habitat. **Pacma** (an Spanish animal rights party) shares that framework and warns that, in its view, killing a wild animal without authorisation is a crime. It adds that the boar was disoriented and terrified.

The **Zaragoza Fire Service**, which has an Animal Rescue Unit, is preparing a general operating procedure for future interventions of this kind. It is the only concrete administrative step announced so far.

## The cost of improvising on a festive night

Every call about wild fauna in an urban area mobilises public resources: local police, firefighters and emergency services. When there is no protocol in place, the response is decided on the spot and the margin for error grows. The procedure the firefighters are preparing aims to fill that gap.

Saturday's event mixes tribute and political pressure. The march to the bar where the animal died turns the scene of the incident into the stage for the protest. Anyone wishing to take part can bring a gift for the memorial space.

## What remains unclear

The exact circumstances of the struggle inside the premises have still not been publicly reconstructed. The injured woman and the owner of the establishment are the two parties directly affected by what peine that night. Any legal assessment of the use of the bladed weapon is a matter for the courts, not for the organising groups.