The Guardia Civil’s Seprona Patrol (Environment and Animal welfare) from the Vecindario Post, between January 08 and 14, arrested a 26-year-old man and another 50-year-old man, as the alleged perpetrators of a crime of animal abuse and abandonment. The events occurred after several residents of Santa Lucía de Tirajana provided the Guardia Civil videos and photographs of the unfortunate state the animals were being kept in, suspecting a possible case of mistreatment or omission of the necessary care for their subsistence.
A uniformed SEPRONA patrol moved to the place, indicated by the local residents, and found twelve dogs, most of them hunting dogs.
The habitats where the animals were found were in a state that was incompatible with life, due to a lack of hygiene and, furthermore, the dogs were in a state of extreme malnourishment with obvious infestations by different parasites and many had unhealed wounds.
One of the dogs was missing half a leg and the wound was still unhealed due to lack of veterinary care.
Of the twelve animals, 4 lacked the requisite identification or documentation for their possession, for which Seprona initiated several administrative files, including lack of vaccination, lacking town hall registrations in the census and lack of a zoocan identifications.
It should be noted that, during the inspection carried out by the Guardia Civil, several interested people approached, requesting to be able to express their objections to the treatment that these animals. Subsequently, 9 people filed official complaints, arguing that the facts had already been exposed to other institutions outside the Guardia Civil, not only because of the state of the animals but because they did not stop barking all day.
The Guardia Civil communicated with those responsible for Santa Lucía Town Council, requesting they collect the animals, also requesting the presence of a veterinary doctor to come to the scene, for an in-situ assessment of the state of the animals and their kennels before seizing the animals. Once an examination of each animal was carried out, they were handed over to the municipal services of the Santa Lucía de Tirajana Town Council, remaining in custody at the Council’s facilities until a resolution or judicial pronouncement can be made in this regard.
During the inspection, SEPRONA detected two buildings in the area where the animals were located that were built illegally on protected rustic land, also carrying out the appropriate steps in terms of urban planning for a crime Against Territorial Planning.
Proceedings and detainees were handed over to the Duty Court of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
