Thanks to viral videos by Blanka Alfaro Pola, the Latin American communications coordinator at Mercy For Animals, a bill that would have stripped hundreds of thousands of animals in Mexico from protections was stopped in its tracks.







Blanka voiced her opposition to the bill, which had passed the Nuevo Leon legislature unanimously, through videos uploaded to Facebook. The first video, which soon went viral, mobilized thousands of citizens to express their concerns through social media and an online petition.





The second video, which also went viral, detailed the implications of the bill should it become law. Blanka invited people to use the hashtag #BroncoVetoInteligente or #BroncoSmartVeto to encourage Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón to veto the bill. (“Bronco” is the governor’s nickname.)





Governor Calderón responded with a declaration that he would veto the “Animal Protection Act,” which ironically would have taken protections away from animals:

Congress passed a law that I think lacked a bit of discussion. … If I veto it, it goes back to Congress and Congress can re-propose it, but this time with a deeper discussion and taking into account the opinion of those who do not agree with that Act.

Specifically, the law would have left pigs, cows, chickens, goats, sheep, and turkeys completely unprotected. It would have made dogfighting a lesser crime, permitted the sale of companion animals in street markets, and stripped protections from wild animals as well.





Those of us who defend the defenseless are creating a kinder world. As Margaret Mead said, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”



