Valencia’s DARNA Animal Rescue Facing Closure

Grace Janet is a human rights lawyer based in Xativa. For four years she has dedicated her time to the rescue of strays. Janet is the founder of DARNA (Defence and Rescue Network for Animals). She plans to become an animal rights lawyer. This past year, Grace has been facing harassment and intimidation on her property, and DARNA Animal Shelter is now facing closure. Daniel Hazelhoff reports… 

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DARNA Animal Rescue was born organically, 12 years ago in Madrid. Grace Janet, an animal lover, received two cats for Christmas, shortly after she rescued a few stray cats. Then, friends and neighbours started asking for her advice and help with their pets, and strays found around the city. When the animals became numerous, she set up DARNA Animal Rescue. Her mission to find adopters and foster families began. 

After moving around for a few years she eventually landed in Enguera, a small town near Xativa, in Valencia, where she was renting a property for her charity and shelter, DARNA Animal Rescue. She applied for all of the legal paperwork necessary and received her charity number.

“The way it works in Spain is that you as a charity don’t necessarily just get a license when you’re created, you get your charity number, but if you move locations, your new location needs a licence, and that can take time,” explains a volunteer at DARNA Animal Rescue who prefers to remain nameless. 

However, this property had severe flooding issues and was at threat of wildfire. She wanted a better life for her animals so she began searching for property and land of her own. That’s when Grace found her current plot of land in Xativa.

The Promised Land 

“It took over a year for Grace to find her new property,” says the volunteer. “It’s surrounded by commercial orange groves, in rustic land.” Before purchasing the property in April 2020, she wanted to make sure everything was legally sound. She got her engineer and gestor and went to the Ayuntamiento, or city hall. “In the deeds to the land, it says we are allowed to have an animal charity. They went through the list of things that you need to have to have this permit,” says the volunteer. 

City hall said everything was in order. So Janet, with the help of her engineer and gestor submitted all of the necessary paperwork. She purchased her property. 

As the year went by, DARNA Animal Rescue waited for city hall to take action, and process all of their documentation. They followed up several times just to hear “these things take time, we’re still processing it”. Last month Grace called city hall again, they said they had sent her a letter. Says Grace, “As they know, letters do not arrive at my property,” since it is rustic and off the grid. To circumvent this issue, DARNA Animal Rescue asked for an email instead. That email never arrived. 

Grace put her love, money and energy into refurbishing, and developing the property. She created an ideal space for animals to live a good life on her land, then Grace received an offer of purchase. She had put so much time and effort into creating a haven for strays and troubled animals. So Grace declined the offer.

Dirty Tricks Campaign

After that, strange coincidences started to happen. Several of her cats died from poisoning. Persons unknown stole a generator and gas tanks from the property. And farmers drove their tractors over her land on rainy days. This made the unpaved roads to her property inaccessible by vehicle. Individuals had been shining flashlights at her property at night, and performing dusk drive-bys in tractors.

Someone also cut water access to her property. Farmers had been using the previously abandoned lot of land as a makeshift road. “But I had no problem in allowing them to use the makeshift road on my property,” says Grace. In an attempt to stop the harassment, Grace set up a chain at two access points on her land. She also installed cameras facing her property. Someone offered Grace an alternative plot of land for €20,000, which she refused.

Suspicious Collusion By City Hall?

And that’s when she received a denuncia. That same day, city hall came to her property to inform her that she had no right to install cameras on her land. Another complaint stated that she was blocking a road with her chains. “But there is no official road there, there has never been an official road. Also, the land is under my name,” says Grace. Nonetheless, DARNA is now facing closure. 

The day after she put up the chains – “for my own safety,” says Grace – she received a call from a newspaper, Levante, informing her that DARNA Animal Rescue was facing closure and asking whether she had any comment. 

This took her completely by surprise. Grace Janet went to city hall with questions. “How is this happening without my knowledge, and how does this reporter know my address?” says Grace. She continues, “the same reporter had already been to my property and taken photos without my knowledge. And all before I even knew they were closing me down,” she adds. 

The day after she put up chains – “for my own safety,” says Grace – she received a call from a reporter informing her that DARNA was going to be closed and asking whether she had any comment…

Grace tells us that city hall claims to have sent her information in May about the closing down of DARNA Animal Rescue. However, she never received any such information. When she spoke to them on the phone a month ago, they said she was missing paperwork. Again, without having made any attempt to contact her, which she queried at the time. All the paperwork had gone through her gestor – “So why wasn’t he informed?” asks Grace.

Then the Ayuntamiento changed its story and said they had sent her an email, which she did not receive. “They told me when we heard about our closure that we would receive a notification within a week or two. I still haven’t received anything,” says Grace. She continues, “the only thing I received was a piece of paper, on that day. It said they were refusing my licence. On the grounds that we don’t have 15,000 sq m.”

City hall claims her land needs to have 15,000 sq m. Yet, according to Grace, none of the 60 animal rescues in Valencia have 15,000 square metres of land. She also explains that the dog pound, a five-minute walk from her land, also does not have 15,000 sq m.

Ayuntamiento “Moving Goalposts”

“The dog licence usually goes on the weight of the dog. So depending on the weight of the dogs you need a certain amount of space. And by far, I have enough land for my dogs,” says Grace.   

Grace claims the city hall keeps “moving the goalposts” within this battle. Worn down and tired, she expressed how exhausting this whole process is. It’s also “hellishly expensive to fight”. She adds, “It is so unfair it is to fight a legal battle when city hall keeps on coming up with different accusations.” 

The campaign of intimidation continued when someone blocked off Grace’s property, and the public roads to reach it, with similar chain fences. “These are actual public roads they are blocking off – my life has become a living nightmare”, says Grace.

Following the recent poisoning of two cats in her care, not only is the legal battle in full swing, the dirty tricks campaign is becoming far more sinister. Grace says she needs to focus more on the animals’ safety, however, rather than fighting this legal war at the moment. 

If anyone would like to help, DARNA Animal Rescue is searching for foster families for the cats and dogs. They are accepting donations via their GoFundMe campaign, to continue fighting so they can keep their land. Meanwhile, DARNA Animal Rescue is still facing closure…

 
• You can find all links for help and donations on DARNA Animal Rescue’s Linktree