SHARE
COPY LINK

DOGS

Spanish shelter head on trial for ‘killing’ over 2,000 animals

The head of an animal shelter is on trial in Spain, accused of killing over 2,000 dogs and cats in a way that provoked a "slow and painful agony," judicial authorities said on Tuesday.

Spanish shelter head on trial for 'killing' over 2,000 animals
Thousands of healthy animals were slaughtered at the Torremolinos rescue centre. Photo: Guardia Civil

Prosecutors charge the woman and the janitor of the Parque Animal centre in Torremolinos on the southern Costa del Sol injected the drugs without any previous sedation and directly into muscle tissue, instead of intravenously as recommended.

They also accuse the pair of using a smaller dose of the euthanizing drugs than is advised, to save money.

“The animals were submitted to a slow and painful agony, which was totally unjustified and which the accused were aware of since the animals contorted in pain in front of them for hours,” prosecutors wrote in charges obtained Tuesday.

They accuse the pair of having killed 2,183 animals between January 2009 and October 2010 when the alleged slaughter of the animals first came to light during an inspection of the facilities.

The pair would allegedly disconnect security cameras when they carried out these “mass extinctions” and would play loud music over a megaphone to mask the “howls” made by the animals, prosecutors added.

Warning: Video contains distressing images.

Both defendants have denied the allegations.  

The majority of animals that were allegedly killed by the pair were young and in good health, and in some cases were put down just days after being dropped off at the shelter, which was founded in 1996.

Prosecutors allege a man dropped off two puppies at the shelter in June 2010 and the animals were killed later that same day. The man had paid the shelter €60 ($64) to take in the puppies.

They believe the pair killed the animals to “reduce costs” and make room for the centre's for-profit activities.

The shelter for abandoned animals also provided paid groo ming services as well as a private animal clinic even though the director did not have a veterinary diploma.

The woman, Carmen Marin Aguilar, told the court in the southern city of Malaga at the start of her trial last week that she “loves animals”.

“I don't even dare to cut their nails,” she added, according to the Europa Press news agency.

She also said she could not have injected the animals since she has a “phobia” of needles.

The trial is expected to wrap up on December 9. Prosecutors have asked that she be given a four-year jail term for animal abuse, document falsification and the illegal exercise of the veterinary profession.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

IMMIGRATION

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday 

Find out what’s going on in Norway on Tuesday with The Local’s short roundup of important news. 

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday 
Oslo Operahus. Photo by Arvid Malde on Unsplash

Child’s body washed ashore identified 

The body of a 15-month old boy who washed ashore near Karmøy in southwest Norway has been identified as that of a child named Artin, who died alongside his relatives while attempting to cross the Channel from France into the United Kingdom. 

Artin’s body was found on New Year’s Day more than two months after the vessel carrying the rest of his family sank. The boat was carrying around 20 refugees in total. 

“We didn’t have a missing baby reported in Norway, and no family had contacted the police,” Camilla Tjelle Waage, the head of police investigations, told BBC News.  

Artin had a relative in Norway that allowed forensic scientists at Oslo University Hospital to match the DNA profiles of him and the relative to confirm his identity. 

“This has been a painstaking process, but we are pleased we have now received confirmation that this is the missing boy who was found on Karmøy. This story is tragic, but then it is at least good to give his surviving relatives an answer,” Waage said in a statement. 

READ ALSO: Body found in Oslo flat nine years after death 

His remaining family have been notified, and his remains are to be flown back to Iran to be buried. 

Six out of seven Norwegian dog breeds facing extinction 

Only one of Norway’s seven native dog breeds is not threatened with extinction. The other six are facing extinction, despite ten years of efforts to try and revive the breeds. 

The only Norwegian dog breed not in danger of disappearing is the Grey Norwegian Elkhound. 

“We are the country of origin of these dogs, and we have a special responsibility to the UN to preserve these dogs,” Odd Vangen, professor of livestock breeding and genetics at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), told state broadcaster NRK.

The dog breeds endangered are the Hygen Hound, Norwegian Bunhund, Black Norwegian Elkhound, Norwegian Dunker, Norwegian Puffin Hound and the Halden Hound. 

According to Vangen, these dogs are facing extinction because they are working dogs and not bred for companionship. Many of the breeds are bred for hunting, but populations are dwindling due to a lack of hunters and hunting areas. 

NIPH ditches test concerts 

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has dropped its proposed test concert scheme after Oslo City Council said it would not host any events. 

“It is not worth carrying the concerts out if the only place we can host them in Bergen. The project is dead and buried,” Atle Fretheim, project manager for the scheme, told paper Bergens Tidende

The government had initially given the test concerts the go-ahead at the end of May to research whether rapid testing of the public could reduce the risk of infection. 

249 Covid-19 cases in Norway 

On Monday, 249 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Norway, a decrease of 36 compared to the seven day average of 286. 

In Oslo, 66 new cases of infection were registered, 19 fewer infections than the seven-day average. 

The R-number or reproduction rate in Norway is currently 1.0. This means that every ten people that are infected will, on average, only infect another ten people, indicating that the infection level is stable. 

Total number of Covid-19 cases so far. Source: NIPH
SHOW COMMENTS