SPAIN: The LGBTQ+ community in Madrid paraded on Sunday, 3 July, with their dogs to demand the end of animal cruelty and promote adoptions from dog shelters.

Under the slogan ‘Feathers and Paws,’ supporters gathered at Zerolo square in the LGBTQ+ community's iconic Chueca neighborhood, to walk along a pink carpet with their dogs while hundreds of people cheered.

“No person or animal should be mistreated,” said participant and public worker, Jesus Isidro, standing next to his Saint Bernard Lola.

Data from the Affinity Foundation showed that 285,000 dogs and cats were collected by shelters in 2021. For the first time in many years, 50% of them were adopted, according to their Abandonment and Adoption study.

The event was included amid Pride week in Madrid, one of the world’s most famous events for LGBTQ+ community members. It is expected that next Saturday, 9 July, the annual gay pride parade in Madrid will gather more than two million people.

In 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium. A 2013 report for the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found 88% of Spaniards accepted homosexuality, making it one of the most accepting countries of the 39 polled.

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF LGBT COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS HOLDING PETS PARADE TO DEMAND END OF ANIMAL CRUELTY AND TO PROMOTE ADOPTION OF ANIMALS / COMMENTS BY PARTICIPANTS}