‘It’s My Pet’: Colombian Senator Brings Horse to Work After Congress Becomes ‘Pet-Friendly’

Facebook/@JosueAlirioBarrera
Facebook/@JosueAlirioBarrera
Christian K. Caruzo

Colombian Senator Alirio Barrera arrived on horseback to Congress on Monday following a ruling passed by the president of the Senate the week prior that declared the nation’s legislative building as “pet-friendly.”

On September 20, Senator Roy Barreras, president of the Colombian Senate, announced that from September 27 onwards, Colombia’s Congress would be deemed a “pet-friendly” space. Barreras made the announcement alongside “Covid,” a small dog named after the Chinese coronavirus pandemic Barreras adopted after it was found outside the premises of the Congress on the first day of the pandemic.

“I brought ‘Covid,’ who we found at the entrance of the Congress very mistreated, to share that starting next week the Congress of Colombia will be Pet Friendly, so they can bring their pets whenever they want,” Senator Barreras said on September 20.

The motion to turn the Colombian Legislature into a “pet-friendly” space stems from a request made by Green Alliance Party Senator Andrea Padilla Villarraga, a prominent animal rights promoter. In a tweet dated September 20, she thanked the President of the Colombian Senate for approving the ruling while suggesting that the next step should be to forbid the use of security dogs.

Following the new rules, Senator Alirio Barrera brought his trusty steed, Pasaporte (“Passport”), to Congress on Monday. As the ruling does not specify or limit what kind of animals are permissible in the new pet-friendly Congress, Congress’ security had no choice but to allow passage to the Colombian Capitol for the Senator and his horse.

“The President of the Senate (Roy Barreras) stated that senators could bring pets; some have cats, dogs, others have other little things, I have my little horse that is my pet,” the Senator stated. “I arrived with everything they asked for, their license, cleaning kit and even rag pickers, just in case.”

Barrera, who belongs to the conservative Centro Democrático (“Democratic Center”) run by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, stated that he would not miss the opportunity granted by the new pet-friendly measures to able to show his horse — which he uses in field labor — to the rest of the Senators.

Currently, there are more than 19 bills in the Colombian legislature that seek to prohibit the use of animals in daily chores. Senator Barrera also stated that by bringing his horse he sought to remind everyone of the importance of fieldwork and “the country’s peasants, who are more than 15 million who today mostly use a horse, a mule to transport food and work.”

“This [The proposed laws] is very unfair because it will hinder the development of any work. The horse is the only means of transport that families have in many regions,” he commented.

The Senator, and his horse, did not go unnoticed by irate opposition legislators.

One such critic was Senator Angélica Lozano Correa of the Colombian Green Party — the party that requested to turn Congress into a pet-friendly space. Lozano criticized the Senator for “clowning” on Twitter. “The clowning works to get media coverage. I cannot imagine the British or Canadian Parliament with Congressmen coming with ‘pets.’ It is not serious to bring animals when there is no nursery or kindergarten for children of employees or children of Congressmen.”

Following the criticism espoused by Lozano, the President of Congress stated on Monday that he would seek out the possibility of establishing a kindergarten for the children of the legislators and congressional staff.

“Thank you senator, you are right, neither the British, nor the Spanish, nor the French, because this is the first ‘pet friendly’ Congress in the world,” Barrera responded to the Senator.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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