In pics: LGBT community parade in Madrid demanding end of animal cruelty

Miguel Aragon (28), a Participant in the Feathers and Paws parade, said, “A dog has more responsibility, you have to put him down many times a day, in this case, a ferret you can keep at home, he may not even like to go out. This one doesn't care, he is quite sociable. They have a bad reputation, but they are not as difficult and they don't smell as bad as they say if you take good care of them.”
 

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 per cent of them were adopted, according to their Abandonment and Adoption study.
 

Tecnico Diseno (39), a Participant in the Feathers and Paws parade, said, "If you have the opportunity and you want to share your life with one of these animals, it is the only one that will give you unconditional love, it is the only one, without asking for anything in return, and even more if they have suffered. You should do it.”
 

The event was included amid Pride week in Madrid, one of the most worldwide famous events for LGBT people. It is expected that next Saturday (July 9) the annual gay pride parade will gather more than two million people in the Spanish capital.
 

Jacobo Campos (36), a Participant in the Feathers and Paws parade, said, “I live alone and in the end, the dog is the one that accompanies me throughout the day, an animal is never angry, whenever you get home it welcomes you with a smile, and someone who gives you unconditional affection is priceless.”
 

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