Legislators in Colombia's Congress unanimously approved the historic Ángel Law in late February, setting harsher punishments for animal abusers and a legal pedagogical framework to prevent further cases of animal abuse.
The bill was originally introduced in 2023 by senator Andrea Padilla, a psychologist and lawyer with a background in animal rights activism. The law's name, Ángel, was inspired by the rescue of a six-month-old dog which had been brutally skinned in the northeastern Colombian town of Sobayá, Boyacá.
"S.O.S. We are speechless. A drug addict attacked this puppy and skinned him. He had not received medical attention since then. We have now rescued him, but please don't leave us alone. We need to save him, and we don't have the resources to do so," the Association for Protection of Animals Mi Mejor Amigo shared on October 12, 2021, along with a heartbreaking picture of the brutalized canine.
Eighty percent of Ángel's body had been skinned. Mi Mejor Amigo paid for extensive medical treatments to heal him, which amounted to over $50 million Colombian pesos (around $12,000 USD).
Ángel's attacker targeted the animal in presumed retaliation against the dog's owners, with whom he'd allegedly experienced disputes. And although Mi Mejor Amigo denounced the attacker before local police on the same day of the rescue, he has reportedly received no punishment so far.
The dog ultimately passed away on February 18, 2025, despite constant medical procedures to treat his brutalization, which included torn muscles, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (by which the skin becomes extremely fragile) renal failure, blood transfusions, and 15 surgeries.
Speaking with Latin Times, senator Padilla explained that her team had already tried to introduce a law that would guarantee harsher punishments and more effective judicial tools for prosecuting animal abusers, but it was Ángel's story that truly gave the project momentum in Congress.
"We had already introduced a similar bill in 2023, but Congress didn't pay much attention because at the time they were discussing [banning] bullfighting, which took up a lot of time and was very controversial. As a Congress member, one has to dose the topics, not all hard fights can be fought simultaneously. But with the Ángel Law we had a clearer path to push for it," senator Padilla stressed.
Colombia recognized animals' legal protection with Law 84 of 1989, by which the State adopted the National Statute for the Protection of Animals. This protection for non-human beings as especially vulnerable to violence was again ratified in the country's 1991 Constitution, although it was not until 2016 that norms recognizing them as sentient beings were established.
However, cases of abuse have reached historic highs in recent years. According to the Bogotá City Council, the number of reported cases increased by 87% from 2023 to 2024.
For senator Padilla, this situation is more nuanced, attributing the increased cases to higher reporting from citizens, not more violence.
"We don't know how many cases [of animal abuse] there were before 2017 because the crime did not exist. Prevention measures did exist, but they were framed under a very poorly-written law that dated back to 1989 and included ridiculous sanctions, for which people didn't even bother to denounce," senator Padilla stated.
Beyond the Ángel Law, the senator has also successfully passed three other bills during her time in Congress, starting in 2022.
The Lorenzo Law establishes stricter regulation for the employment of dogs in security and vigilance jobs. It was approved by Colombia's Chamber of Representatives in February 2025. Similarly, the Neutering Saves Law (Ley Esterilizar Salva) was passed in May 2024, creating a government-led national neutering program for stray dogs and cats. And finally, Padilla passed bill No. 012 of 2023, which created stricter transportation and surveillance processes for animals rescued from illegal trafficking.
Most recently, the senator organized the March 23 transfer of Yoko, a chimpanzee victim of trafficking to the Sorocaba sanctuary in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Yoko, now 38 years old, had been kidnapped by a trafficker as an infant, and sold to a drug dealer, who subjected him to a cruel imprinting process, by which animals experience habituation to human behaviors. As a result, the chimpanzee cannot be reintegrated into his natural habitat.
Following his owner's death, Yoko was seized by a local circus in the north-eastern Colombian city of Cúcuta, and was later found by authorities in a container, exhibiting great physical and emotional pain. He was then transferred to a wildlife shelter in south-western Cali, where he awaited transfer to Brazil since 2018.
"Evidently, as an activist, a woman and a human being dedicated to this cause, the feeling is beautiful... feeling like my life has a purpose, and that I am being useful to the beings that I love most in this world," the senator responded, after being asked what her work in Congress means.
Beyond her empathy towards animals, Padilla's work is also grounded in human causes. Congress' recent decisions were reaffirmed by a growing recognition of the connection between animal abuse and human violence. An estimated 41% of individuals convicted of violent crimes have a history of animal abuse, while 86% of women victims of domestic violence have witnessed abuse of their companion animals and 81% of men convicted of gender-based crimes have also abused animals.
Activist, Psychologist, Lawyer, Congress Member
Born in Bogotá, Padilla first graduated with a degree in psychology, after which she completed two master's degrees in Thinking and Governing Complex Societies and Criminology, and a PhD in Law. Activism, however, has underscored her every step.
"After having ventured in several fields of knowledge, the world of activism called to me because of my need to feel that I was doing something with my life for others – in this case, for animals, as the beings I chose to defend, help and protect," the senator noted.
Padilla created the CER Gatos team in 2013, which still works to neuter feral and homeless cats in Colombia's capital, and served as the country spokesperson for AnimaNaturalis, the Ibero-American organization for animal rights, from 2008 until 2019.
Her book, Sentient Law, explores the legal tradition of animals being treated as property, and highlights the ethical, political and cultural questions that have detracted from this notion in criminal processes.
"It is obvious that dismantling the current systems of exploitation would only be possible if we empathized with all sentient animals, forming a community of moral equals, and driving an ethical and political revolution with greater liberatory reach than the abolition of human slavery," the book reads.
However, she was disheartened by the world of activism, leading her to aspire to public office.
"There was a moment when I began to question activism a bit because I saw how slow it was, how progress felt almost nonexistent. You had to beg for the smallest things, be overly grateful for nothing, and always depend on the goodwill of people who were only mildly interested in animal issues – or, more often, saw them as an opportunity for electoral gain rather than a genuine concern," Padilla said.
In 2019, the now-senator ran what she deems the "cheapest campaign for Bogotá's City Council in the capital's history", costing 14 million Colombian pesos ($3,400 USD) in total. She leveraged neutering campaigns and flyers across the city as an electoral strategy, contrary to the traditional billboards, t-shirts, and hats that other politicians have employed in their electoral campaigns.
"Austerity is a guiding principle in my life and should be a guiding principle in politics. This is how much our campaign for the Bogotá City Council, for the benefit of animals, cost, in contrast with the (immoral) spending limit authorized by the electoral council (472 million)," Padilla shared on X at the time.
She was then elected as a Bogotá Council member with 23,749 votes. However, Padilla gave up her seat to run for the Colombian Senate in 2021, the same year she won the PETA Latino (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Woman Defender of Animals Award.
Despite her short tenure on the Bogotá City Council, Padilla passed five district regulations, including a policy to discourage bull and cockfighting, banning the sale of live animals in marketplaces, and sterilizing efforts of stray cats and dogs.
Once current-President Gustavo Petro announced his candidacy, however, Padilla interpreted his emphasis on the protection of Colombia's biodiversity as an opportunity to aspire to national public office.
"We thought it was the moment to aspire to something at the national level, especially because people across Colombia were calling me out... 'Yes, Bogotá is doing great, but you have the institutions, the resources! The rest of the country is struggling!' they would rightly say."
This Senate campaign secured Padilla's entry to Congress with 48,803 votes from across Colombia in 2022. As a senator, she has successfully passed four bills, although she has proposed 13 bills in total, including the recent Chucho Law, aiming to implement higher standards of care in zoos, bioparks and aquariums.
"Although politics can disgust us and seems like the worst thing in the world, that very sentiment is what those who enter politics to steal, make shady deals, and uphold an unjust system take advantage of," Padilla noted.
Animal Rights in Colombia
Since 2016, Colombia has criminalized animal abuse, for which aggressors face punishments of up to 85 million Colombian pesos ($20,300 USD) and 36 month-long prison sentences, as of 2025. The crimes typified as most severe include violence against domestic or wild animals which cause death or serious injuries that gravely affect the animal's physical integrity.
Because animals have been legally recognized as sentient beings, cultural practices such as bullfighting and cockfighting have been recently reexamined by Congress.
The Alianza Verde (Green Alliance)party, to which senator Padilla belongs, passed the historic No Más Olé Law on May 28, 2024, banning bullfighting across Colombia. Currently, only seven countries around the world, including Spain, France, Mexico and Ecuador, still uphold such practice.
When leading the conversation on the bullfighting ban in Colombia, Padilla noted that people often argued it was necessary for the betterment of local economies and as a fundamental cultural pillar.
"[These practices] boost economic activity, help sustain the children's hospital in Manizales, they are the only opportunity for women to sell their goods and men to sell beer, they say. But let's look at what's behind it; an absent State, misogyny, classism when the wealthy throw bills from the upper stands. It's about finding the flaws in that cultural argument and challenging those who use culture as a complete and unquestionable justification."
According to the Voiceless Animal Protection Institute, an Australia-based NGO which has worked to address institutionalized animal cruelty since 2004, Colombia is ranked 30th in its 50-country Voiceless Animal Cruelty Index (VACI), on par with countries like China and Spain. As per VACI, although the country has general provisions addressing animal cruelty, their implementation remains a challenge.
For Padilla, this is the secondary, albeit potentially most important, part of her job as a public servant.
"I've always said that birthing a law- I love that metaphor- isn't just about giving it life, but also about raising it. It's a motherhood exercise, ensuring that this 'child' grows, becomes independent, and stands on its own as an autonomous adult," the senator remarked.
Passing a law is the tip of the iceberg for Padilla because its fulfillment requires constant oversight to ensure institutional compliance, that deadlines are met, and an arduous program of citizen education, in this case taking the form of the E-PYBA virtual school for animal protection.
What's Next: Padilla Will Seek Another Term
Padilla's first term as Senator will end in 2026 although she stresses there is still much to be done.
"We currently have several bills in the legislative agenda, including the Empathy and the Protectionists' laws. There is also a very interesting debate taking place about the Law of Regional Centers for Animal Welfare, although political oversight is fundamental," Padilla said. "For the rest of the year, I will focus on carrying out that management work and securing the funds, especially for the Neutering Saves Law, because it's time that the government complies with its allocation of resources!"
The Empathy Law (Ley Empatía) bill was presented by Padilla in August 2024, seeking an integration of animal welfare into School Environmental Projects, Citizen Environmental Education Projects, and Inter-Institutional Committees for Environmental Education. As stressed by PETA, animal welfare-focused education incentivizes empathy and compassion among children, values that translate into adulthood.
Countries around the world have already adopted the duty of care towards animals in their legislation. In the United Kingdom, for one, the Promoting Duty of Care to Animals Among Adolescents inter-disciplinary project has already been implemented in the University of Edinburgh and the University of St. Andrews, among others, based on the connection between empathy towards animals and improved mental health.
The Protectionists' Law, on the other hand, was also introduced by senator Padilla in August 2024, and is to support caregivers of rescued domestic animals if passed.
The senator, however, is excited for others to continue pushing for animal rights at the government.
"We are going to another Senate term – just one more, and that's it. I don't want to cling to this position because I believe in making space for new people, for fresh approaches that align with the times and the new generations," Padilla noted.
"I will turn 47 this year, and I've always said that I'll stay in politics until I'm 65. After that, I'll find a hole in the mountains and disappear there. But for now, I would love to continue serving my country. I dream of leading the Environment Ministry. Maybe even more than that... but I don't dare dream too big just yet. I prefer to follow the paths life has given me while staying true to my direction and purpose," the senator concluded.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
