Andrea Padilla: ‘Animal rights will be part of our DNA’, says Bogotá’s newly elected councilor
When we exclude animals and discriminate against them because they belong to a different species, and we think it is OK to subject them to cruelty and suffering because they don’t speak like us, reason like us, feel, think, communicate, walk or live like us, we generate exclusion and malice through pain and suffering.
JOHN EDWARDS MYERS: Andrea Padilla is a 42-year-old Bogotá city councilwoman. She has a Ph.D. in law, two master’s degrees in criminology and philosophy, and an undergraduate degree in psychology. Her doctoral dissertation makes the case that animals in Latin America are not simply objects, but rather sentient beings whose rights should be protected by law.
Padilla spoke with Mongabay recently from her home in Bogotá, where she described her place as usually being full of animals because she is a cat rescuer. In addition to being an elected official, Padilla coordinates CER Gatos, a volunteer organization working to capture, sterilize, rescue and return cats without homes. Padilla is also a university professor, vegan and writer. Her first non-fiction book will be out within a year…
Mongabay: How would you describe yourself? Who is Andrea Padilla?
Andrea Padilla: I am an activist for the rights of animals who made the leap to electoral politics. I say electoral politics and not politics because life was already political. Everything someone does as part of a cause or movement is political. I believe that once someone forges a leadership role, and has a deep commitment to an issue, that person should take part in the decision-making process and stop delegating that power to others.
I started out as one of the semi-naked people in the streets, marching, performing. I organized demonstrations. Politicians shut the door in my face when I approached them for help. This was years ago, when we were laughed at, not taken with any degree of seriousness or importance. I started, like many, taking in dogs, cats, volunteering weekends at a shelter…
Mongabay: Tell us more about these early formative experiences.
… One day, a cat came into my life. We named her Mayo because she arrived in May. I had never had a cat. I always had dogs. And this cat changed my life. This cat was a revelation, because one day I am cooking a chicken and Mayo is standing next to me on the counter. And while I am holding this chicken, I feel its claw. And I think to myself, this chicken’s foot feels just like Mayo’s foot, the same bones, the same muscles, this is the same animal, the same being. That day I became a vegetarian.
Later I got involved with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA would send me packages in the mail with VHS cassettes, pamphlets, signs. This was long before the internet got going, but I just remember seeing these videos and thinking to myself “the day people can see this, they will have a change of conscience!”
Mongabay: What images shocked you the most?
Andrea Padilla: The slaughterhouses and the laboratories where they test cosmetics on animals.
Mongabay: And now you are a member of Bogotá’s City Council?
Andrea Padilla: Correct. I was elected democratically in 2020 with 23,749 votes. And I spent less than $4,000 on the campaign. I believe it is one of the cheapest campaigns in history…
Mongabay: What do you believe is at the core of the animal rights movement, why did you join it?
Andrea Padilla: When we exclude animals and discriminate against them because they belong to a different species, and we think it is OK to subject them to cruelty and suffering because they don’t speak like us, reason like us, feel, think, communicate, walk or live like us, we generate exclusion and malice through pain and suffering. I became interested in this cause because I believe it’s the foundation of kindness and compassion in the world.
Mongabay: You are highly criticized by just about everyone. Animal rights activists criticize you for not being radical enough. Many traditional environmentalists or conservationists criticize you for caring too much about domestic animals and pets and not enough about native fauna and wildlife. For example, what are we going to do about the fact that both feral and domestic cats kill billions of wild birds each year?
Andrea Padilla: Within the movement I am criticized for not being radical enough. And I recognize that I am at times pragmatic, calculatingly pragmatic, terribly pragmatic. But life is short, resources are scarce and the problems are numerous. Take bullfighting in Bogotá. People were upset that bullfighting isn’t completely prohibited. It is not within our authority to ban bullfighting, but we can regulate it. We shortened the season from eight dates to three. We increased their taxes. We banned a number of the cruel practices used to poke and prod the animals. We made the actual killing of bulls in the plaza illegal. And we require the organizers to include information about animal suffering when they publicize events. This for me is a win. We’ve made this spectacle more expensive, less attractive and in terms of its pragmatism, we’ve all but eliminated it…
Mongabay: You and the animal rights activists in Colombia are now a political force to be reckoned with. How will you deploy this force in the upcoming presidential elections and beyond?
Andrea Padilla: Right now we are waiting for a legal decision regarding the development of national-level animal protection. This is something that’s established in President Iván Duque’s National Development Plan. But since these guys have been screwing around for two years on this, nothing has happened. So we had to file a grievance against them and are awaiting the response.
With regard to elections, I belong to the Alianza Verde (Green Alliance). I see it as my role to develop the party’s animal rights agenda.
Mongabay: The Green Alliance will have an animal rights agenda?
Andrea Padilla: We must. How can we be the Green Alliance without an animal rights agenda? So far, the national-level discussion has been very weak. I see it as my imperative to change this. Animal rights will be part of our DNA. The rights of animals are important to voters, the media is paying attention and our political relevance grows every day. SOURCE…
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