The following are brief biographies of each member of the Coordinating Committee of the Party for Animals.

António Santos

Born 20 April 1964 in Matosinhos where he remains a resident.

An entrepreneur in several areas particularly construction, António was a motor racer who participated in the National League of Inter-Karting, the Marbel Seat Trophy, the National Championship of Tourism Speed, BMW Speed Trophy and others.

António co-founded Associação Desenvolvimento Natura in 2007 and is the current President.  This is a non-profit organisation dedicated to animals and the environment and mainly aimed at fundraising for organisations involved in animal protection and environmental causes. António took joint responsibility for creating and presenting a petition which received more than 11,000 signatures to the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE).  The objective of this petition was to exclude designer Fátima Lopes from future Portugal Fashion events due to her use and promotion of fur in fashion.

- Member of Quercus – National Association for Nature Conservation
- Member of the Abandoned Animals' Corner (Viseu)
- Member of the Association of Friends of Animals of Santo Tirso (ASAAST)



Fernando Leite

Studied Law at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France followed by the Lusíada University of Porto.  Fernando worked as an Art Consultant in Gallery Mario Sequeira, one of the most prestigious of the Iberian Peninsula, and as a sales consultant, namely for several automotive brands. He now works for Volvo Auto Sueco.

He also worked in training, translation and public relations,  for example for  Sporting Clube de Braga in the late 90’s.

Co-founder and Member of Associação Desenvolvimento Natura.



Paulo Borges

Born 5 October 1959 in Lisbon where he still remains resident.

Paulo is a PhD in Philosophy and a Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lisbon, since 1988.

He has written several works of poetry and philosophical essays (to see the full list, visit www.pauloborges.net), a novel and a play together with hundreds of conferences and articles in journals and collective works published in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Brazil.

Member of the Organising Committee for the visits of the Dalai Lama to Portugal in 2001 and 2007 and translator-interpreter of his teachings on the last visit.  Practitioner of Buddhist meditation since 1981 and instructor since 1999.
 

Friend of animals by vocation and family tradition. Public defender of the need for a new planetary consciousness driven by a love of nature and all sentient beings.

- Founding member and board member of the Portuguese-Brazilian Institute of Philosophy

- Correspondent member of the Brazilian Academy of Philosophy
- Founding member of APERel – Portuguese Association for the Study of Religions
- Co-Director of the magazine ‘New Eagle’
- President of the Portuguese Buddhist Association
- President of the Association Agostinho da Silva
- President of the International Lusophone Movement

Pedro Oliveira

Born on 3 April 1960 in Lisbon and currently residing in Oeiras.

Pedro graduated in Law at the Faculty of Law of Lisbon and afterwards attended a course in Health and Safety at Work.  He has attended many complementary courses related to this subject where he has played a role in the past eight years, having previously practiced as a lawyer.

A student and practitioner of Budo (martial arts) such as Iaido (2nd Dan), Kendo (1st Dan), Jodo, Kick-Boxing, Krav Maga, Full Contact and Taekwondo since 1978.

Pedro also practices underwater diving, skydiving and yoga.

As a practitioner of Buddhism, he regards all sentient beings in the same way since all of them, both human and non-human, seek an end to suffering and its causes.

In January 2007, Pedro initiated an Internet petition aiming to stop the massacre of dolphins taking place annually in Taiji, Japan.  The petition now has over 1,278,000 signatures.

- Member of the Portuguese Buddhist Association
- Member of AVAAZ.ORG, a global network with a simple democratic mission – to close the gap between the world that we live in and the world that we want
- Member of Oxfam International
- Member of the Association of Kendo Lisbon
- Member of the Portuguese Krav Maga Federation

- Member of the Sporting Association of Oeiras