Company chickens out of contract to rid Torrevieja of stray poultry

Hens and roosters are a common sight in the town’s parks, gardens and streets but could get hurt or cause traffic accidents

This rooster is a regular at a bar near the Parque de las Naciones

Why do chickens still cross the road in Torrevieja? Apparently, because it’s too hard to round them all up and put them somewhere safer.

Early this year, the town hall put a contract out to tender for a service to control, catch and move galliform birds living in the municipality’s public spaces.

Bids were invited for the 12-month contract, which had a maximum budget of over €26,000 to catch and relocate up to 700 hens and roosters, which was the approximate number of them that council workers had managed to count.

Councillor for Animal Welfare Concha Sala said at the time that these creatures posed a danger to themselves and others, since they could get run over by vehicles or cause traffic accidents.

They could also pose a health hazard since they are not subject to veterinary check-ups, she noted.

Acknowledging that people in Spain are increasingly concerned about animal welfare, the councillor emphasised that the birds would be protected and taken to a sanctuary.

The town hall received eight bids and selected the company which scored the most points for meeting the criteria of the contract.

However, Sala has now said that this company, Ecoplanin, which specialises in environmental management and is based in Galicia, has renounced the contract.

She said that a spokesperson for the company had justified this refusal by claiming that they had not realised that they would have to arrange for the animals they caught to be relocated to a sanctuary, even though this was clearly indicated in the terms and conditions.

The council will now have to offer the contract to the remaining companies in the order that their bids were scored.

This sanctuary would have to guarantee that the birds caught would not be killed, in accordance with the national law on animal welfare.

It is now seven months since this contract was put out to tender and the company, which had offered to do the job for just over €16,000, was notified that it had been selected in May.

In the meantime, the number of hens and chickens on the loose in Torrevieja has only increased and they have spread to even more public spaces, including the abandoned green space in La Veleta urbanisation and the San Roque neighbourhood.

And the situation has not stopped some residents from feeding these birds in places like the park by the old railway station, the Parque de las Naciones or the water mill park, among others.

Torrevieja town hall has hired a municipal vet for the first time, and is now in a position to fine the owners of animals that have been abandoned.

The council has also, finally, made progress with plans to renovate and extend the new animal shelter, and is coordinating with volunteers who feed stray cats.

Image: Alex Watkins