Although more than two and a half years have passed since the disappearance of their dog, its owners, Enri Semper and Cristina Ferrerons, do not stop wondering: Where is Ras? And more, after the acceptance by the Generalitat, last October, to implement a new rule to avoid the anonymous death of dogs and cats, that is, to force officials to inform families when they find their lost pet dead. .
But, the regulations have not yet been implemented in a context in which "drought" is concentrating the efforts of the Acció Climàtica department. Given this, Semper feels that "his illusions of him have come to nothing."
It all started in June 2020, when mother and daughter were walking along the Turó de Montcada i Reixac. During the walk, his dog Ras ran away and never came back. It was then that they started a citizen campaign to end the anonymous death of missing dogs and cats.
To date, they have managed to gather close to 25,200 signatures, which Semper values as a real achievement and indicative of "how aware people are of this issue."
"We don't know if Ras is dead or alive." This is how Enri Semper describes his feeling of uncertainty regarding anonymous deaths. As he explains, the problem is that the brigades that deal with removing dead dogs and cats from the roads do not carry microchip readers with them. Its use would be useful to be able to identify the deceased animal and its owners, in order to notify them of the death. "It would be so human and logical that I don't know how it isn't done anymore," he laments. In fact, in Madrid and Galicia the regulations that provide for it have already been processed.
After the demand by the Ras family and the publication of his case in an article in La Vanguardia, the Generalitat accepted the request and promised to process it. Five months have passed and there has still been no progress as far as this new law is concerned.
Sources from the Department of Climate Action of the Generalitat state that there has been no news as to whether work is being done on this new measure, so "it is in the same state in which it was before." As they explain to La Vanguardia, today "the issue of drought is being the number one priority", which has slowed down the work for the creation of this new regulation.
The removal of lifeless bodies of dogs and cats is a responsibility delegated to the municipalities. Reason why Enri Semper and Cristina Ferrerons propose to unify the entire Catalan territory under the same law, as is already done in Madrid, since July 2022, and in Galicia, since January 2023.
"They pass the ball to each other," says Semper. The owner of Ras defends that the institutions have no interest or empathy for all those people who, like her, have spent years looking for her lost animals. "It's as simple as the brigades taking microchip readers with them," she insists.
"I feel that all the fight that we are carrying out has no response from any institution," Semper confesses. After having worked tirelessly in this cause: sending requests to town halls, collecting more than 25,200 signatures and having created the Facebook page Buscando a Ras and a support group on WhatsApp. "I am particular, I have not known how to do more things," she laments. But he assures that the fight continues.
