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ANIMAL CRUELTY

Man convicted for kicking dog to death

A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to probation and fined the equivalent of 100 days pay for animal cruelty after kicking a Golden Retriever puppy to death.

The man was convicted and sentenced in Norrköping for an incident which took place in Navestad in eastern Sweden in October 2010.

The Golden Retriever puppy, named “Angel”, lived to only ten weeks old after its run in with the man while on a walk in the park with its owner.

“I was carrying my daughter in one arm and had the dog on a lead. When the telephone rang I dropped the lead,” the woman told the court on Thursday, according to a report in the local Norrköpings Tidning daily.

The man reportedly “went crazy” as the puppy approached and proceeded to deliver a direct kick to the dog’s midriff.

The owner and her daughter were able to retrieve the family pet from the bushes in the park and carry their newly adopted family member home, but Angel later died from the injuries.

The man later claimed that he intervened to protect his son who became scared of the approaching dog.

He claimed in court that he lost his balance and accidentally kicked the puppy, but this version of events was contradicted by witness testimony.

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ANIMAL CRUELTY

‘Gratuitous cruelty’: Spain probes suspected abuse at animal testing lab

Spanish police and prosecutors said Monday they were investigating an animal testing lab after undercover footage showed staff there tossing around, smacking and taunting dogs, pigs and other animals.

'Gratuitous cruelty': Spain probes suspected abuse at animal testing lab
Handout: Cruelty Free International

“We were dismayed to see the images,” the head of the government’s directorate-general for animal protection, Sergio Garcia Torres, told AFP.

“It is a blatant case of animal abuse.”

Footage published Thursday by Cruelty Free International shows appears to show animals at the Vivotecnia animal testing facility being cut into apparently without having received anaesthetics.

Staff were also filmed swinging dogs and rats around and in one clip someone is drawing a face on a monkey’s genitals as the animal is pinned to a table.

The group said the footage was taken by a whistleblower who worked at the facility, which is on the outskirts of Madrid, between 2018 and 2020.

“There can be no doubt that such gratuitous cruelty causes unnecessary distress and suffering,” the animal rights group said in a statement.

“It is also unlawful.”

Police and public prosecutors said Monday they had opened separate investigations into Vivotecnia, which carries out experiments on animals for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.

The company’s phone number was no longer working on Monday and its web site was down for maintenance.

In a statement cited by Spanish media, Vivotecnia chief executive Andres Konig said he was “shocked” at the images. But, he added, they did not “demonstrate the day-to-day reality at Vivotecnia”.

Following the outcry caused by the release of the footage, the Madrid regional government on Sunday temporarily halted activity at the animal testing facility.

Animal rights political party PACMA has filed a lawsuit against the managers of the company and urged the government to step up its supervision of animal testing.

“It’s a very opaque world and it could be that this is happening regularly without us knowing,” PACMA president Laura Duarte told AFP.

The Vivotecnia laboratory animals were examined by veterinarians and are being moved to other facilities.

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