The Canaries’ smallest island rarely makes the headlines but a recent spate of poisonings of animals has placed it firmly in the spotlight.
Tranquil La Graciosa, which lies a short distance off the north coast of Lanzarote and does not even have its own local council, is at the centre of a police probe into a spate of deaths of cats and one dog since mid-April.
Suspicions that someone had been deliberately poisoning the animals were confirmed when toxicology studies revealed the presence of banned substances in their bodies. The studies by experts at the University of Las Palmas show that oxamyl (a chemical used as a pesticide but banned in the EU since 2023) and several other types of rodent poison were detected in lethal amounts in the dead animals.
The findings have prompted the authorities in Teguise – the municipality in Lanzarote which has responsibility for La Graciosa – to issue an alert to local residents who own pets to be on their guard and report any suspicious behaviour to the police, given the likelihood that animals are being deliberately poisoned by leaving food laced with the chemicals in the open.
“We will not tolerate these actions against animals and are doing everything possible to resolve the situation. We are concerned not just for the animals, particularly pets, but also at possible human victims. We would ask everyone on La Graciosa to keep a close eye on their pets and avoid contact with food left in public areas” said a spokesperson, who reiterated that the use of such pesticides and poisons is strictly prohibited on the island.
The alleged poisonings have rekindled the debate on what should be done with the large numbers of feral cats on La Graciosa, with some sources suggesting that a local person has taken matters into their own hands in the absence of action by the authorities.
Photo: La Graciosa by MiljenkoSuljic – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=161236130
