Valencia’s Animal Shelters Are Changing Hands. Here’s Why People Are Worried.
If you’ve ever adopted a dog in Valencia, fostered a cat through the municipal system, or simply walked past the Benimàmet shelter on a Sunday — this story is for you.
After more than fifteen years running Valencia’s municipal animal shelters, Modepran is out. The handover is happening this week, and the community that has built itself around Valencia’s animal shelter —adopters, fosters, volunteers — is not happy about it.
What happened at the shelters?
The Valencia city council approved the new contract on 15 May 2026, awarding the management of the municipal shelters in Benimàmet and Natzaret to a UTE — a temporary union of two private companies: ADDA OPS, linked to the pest control sector, and Athisa Medio Ambiente. The contract is worth more than five million euros over three years.
To be clear: the new adjudicataria is an alliance of two companies whose core business is pest and invasive species control — pigeons, wild boar, rats.
The concerns about Athisa
Athisa is not unknown to animal protection groups in Spain. According to Modepran, the company currently faces eight active proceedings for alleged animal mistreatment in shelters it manages or has managed across Spain. Documented complaints include animals left without veterinary care, dogs and cats in overcrowded or inadequate conditions, and cases of allegedly irregular euthanasia.
Modepran raised these concerns formally during the tender process, arguing that pending criminal proceedings should be grounds for exclusion. The city council’s response was that proceedings without a final conviction do not constitute legitimate grounds for disqualification. Legally, that position is defensible. Whether it’s the right call for a public animal welfare service is a different question.
It is also worth noting that Seprona — the Guardia Civil’s nature protection unit — opened an investigation into Modepran itself this week, looking into irregular animal movements between centres. Modepran denies any wrongdoing. The timing, days before the handover and mid legal dispute, is worth holding in mind.
What this means practically
The shelters in Benimàmet and Natzaret remain open, and the animals currently in care will stay in place during the transition. What is less clear is whether the volunteer network Modepran built over fifteen years will survive it — private companies, unlike NGOs, cannot legally use unpaid volunteer labour in the same way. For the dozens of people who walk, socialise and care for the animals daily, that access may simply disappear.
What you can do
A petition on Change.org has already gathered over 43,000 signatures — you can find it here. Modepran has announced it will continue to challenge the decision through the courts, so this story is not over.
Change.org Petition for Modepran
In the meantime: if you have been thinking about adopting, fostering, or volunteering — now is not a bad moment to do it. The animals in the shelters need advocates regardless of who is running the building.
