ACTIN, making changes for animals in Spain.

Source: Actin-Spain

Warning; the content and photos in this article are upsetting but we need your help and awareness of this situation. The photos are below the article and are very harrowing; you do not have to see.

In Fortuna, Murcia Spain, hidden in the undergrowth of the campo is the most horrific scene we have ever witnessed. This town which is famous for its natural hot springs and is a tourist attraction, possibly holds a murderer of dogs who could be in this area or in a nearby Town, an evil person who evidently from the way the dogs have been tortured and killed is experienced and adept in his sickening actions against these helpless animals.

Strangled; the poor Galgo, now just a skeleton but the cable and the knots around its neck, clear evidence of what was done to this unfortunate dog; the little fox terrier, tipped from a bucket and lying where it was thrown, we can’t imagine what happened to this poor dog. But then the worst – the young Rottweiller who’s thick neck would not have allowed his murderer to strangle him very easily, and never in our worst nightmares could we have known that someone would do this to a dog; cable tied to its front legs and across its back, had its legs pulled out sideways, until its front split in the middle, literally breaking this dogs heart and tearing it apart. This dog must have died in abject agony. The Galgo and the Rottweiler appear to have been killed where they lie. There were bones of dogs scattered everywhere. Did the dogs do something wrong? Was this their punishment?

We took photos and as our legal team advised, with a newspaper showing the date, as evidence of when found; ironically the headline on the newspaper befits the scene exactly.

We called the Police and just before they arrived, we investigated a property close by that may be connected -  we have found some evidence that could link the deaths of these dogs to this house.

The property appeared to be deserted of people; the first thing we heard was barking from behind the green netting that was hiding what was on the property, we ripped it back to reveal, a tiny Fox terrier, identical to the one we saw dead, the colour, the size, age – perhaps a sibling and quite unusual to see a dog like this – especially with what else we discovered here. Then empty and dilapidated kennels, many signs were pinned on the perimeter with guard dog images and warnings. Then something we totally did not expect to see, a pen filled with Galgos, some with horrible muzzles on their faces, so even if there had been water or food, they would not have been able to drink. There were definite signs that this house belonged to hunters, or a hunter, we saw at least 3 of the typical trailers for transporting dogs when hunting. There were many other dogs too and witnesses tell how the dogs howl in the mornings. We saw at least 3 German shepherds.

After the police arrived, we took them to the scene, and they were visibly disturbed, particularly by the Rottweiler. We showed them the house and we personally felt they realised there was undoubtedly a connection between the house and the deaths of the dogs. However we may not be able to prove this.

Witnesses have also found snares in the same area and recently released a fox caught in the snare. There have been other incidences of animals neglected and trapped in the same place.

So, Fortuna is not a huge town. Someone kills dogs in this town or somewhere nearby, we can presume. Someone experienced, proficient at making knots in cable to hang, strangle and kill a dog unspeakably, they are practised, evil and cruel and they must be exposed, prosecuted and never have the chance to do this again….we need as much publicity for this crime as possible, to uncover this evil murderer.

Thank you to the brave people who reported this and brought it to the attention of ACTIN.

Both President and Vice President of ACTIN investigated this case on the 26^th June 2013 and will not rest until they have found the killer…someone in Fortuna knows…

NB: THE PHOTOS CAN BE ACCESSED ON THE ACTIN-SPAIN WEBSITE HERE.

Please join the group on Facebook ... https://www.facebook.com/groups/AWSMassist/

This poster is available both in Spanish & English & both can be downloaded to be printed off, details to follow. 

TO BE CONTINUED............

• On 24th January a witness saw a man kill his own Mastin dog with a tree branch.
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• The witness has bravely denounced the owner and now ACTIN will prosecute. 
• We hope that if this action is successful it will have many good implications for the lack of laws in Spain and the great difficulties there are to report and legally deal with cases such as these. The witness has attended a preliminary hearing and the next step will be to recognise the owner in an identity parade, to be held in the next few days. ID parade was cancelled, now 4th July. 

• On Thursday 24th January the witness was looking out of her window and saw a large Mastin dog walk past about 80 meters from her house and across the road from her drive.  At first she thought it was a stray, as she hadn’t seen this dog before.  A few seconds later the witness saw a man running and shouting at the dog. The dog walked on and then lay down by a tree. 

• The man, who the witness did not know, picked up a tree branch and began hitting the dog.  The witness ran out of the house and shouted as hard as she could to the man to STOP, he shouted angrily back to her in Spanish.  He threw the branch to the ground and then went off.  The witness ran after the dog which disappeared into a field. The witness returned to the house to fetch her binoculars and when she looked through them, saw the dog collapsed in a field.  The witness got her car and drove to where the dog was - the poor soul was dead!

  Sad in so many ways; the Mastins are gentle dogs and he clearly did not retaliate to this beating. That the man could do such a thing in public, or at all of course…but to do this in public because of a bad temper, when the dog did not come to  him?  Did he think no one would care? Most likely, why wouldn’t he, terrible things are happening to animals in front of our eyes all over Spain – cruelty, neglect, chained animals 24hrs a day in all weathers…and many say nothing!!!!!!!  Despicable. Owners like this should not be allowed to have animals.  This man should be named and shamed.

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• We are setting up a legal fund for the Mastin case and really need your help. We are suggesting a donation of 5 Euros per month for this case and for future cases that ACTIN will undertake. If you wish to help towards getting Spain’s cruelty acknowledged and laws in place for the future, this is one way that you can help us.  We are developing a members area and so you can be actively involved with ACTIN’s work. In the meantime please click the donate button on this page to make your €5 donation. Thank you.
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• Please join our Facebook event here
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• Our lawyer is a specialist in animal welfare law in Spain.  She understands the difficulties that are presented to anyone trying to make a case against cruelty here and she  will be the one to make this case successful if it can be so.  Lawyers in Spain generally do not undertake cases like this and so we feel fortunate to have the right lawyer on board.  However, we need her expertise and time and here in Spain red tape and paper work is time consuming, the specific needs in this case will need to be handled expertly, so we want to make sure our lawyer is recompensed for the amount of work she will carry out, for as long as is necessary.  There are also legal filings and expenses which will cost as well.

   

  And of course more than anything else, if you would like to see the man who did this to his own dog, receive the maximum penalty for this heinous act, then you can be part of the team that helps.

  The witness would like to add this statement :-

  ‘I would like to add to the article, the incident took place across the road from my drive and not on my property. Also Its only hearsay from an ex-pat that locals are asking me to drop the Denuncia, I have not been approached myself, of course I will not do this’. I would like to add and praise The Prompt Action of both the Local and Civil Guardia who have taken this incident very seriously.

  ACTIN feels this is an important story, we are currently doing our best to encourage people to denounce cruelty and report any incident to the Police, Seprona, or to your local Animal welfare Association. Ask your local animal group if they will represent you, if you are afraid or intimidated?

  Many don’t report because they are afraid of the consequences, or not being taken seriously by the Police.  In this case the Police have been helpful. It does depend on areas and also individual police officers but it is important to make sure someone in authority knows.  One of the reasons it is difficult to get proper laws in place and implemented, is because there are not enough reports!   Seprona tell us there isn’t a problem in Spain, because there is no sufficient evidence. We need to change that!!

  I have seen many comments on this story (enough said on that), I think the witness has been very brave.  She has no intention of stepping down from her complaint and we should all follow suit if we see cruelty.  There is no point in crying about how terrible it is in Spain and believe me those that live and are born here and tell us it is not Spain that is the problem -  it is.  It isn’t the people in general, we agree on that, as there is cruelty in every country - but the cruel people in Spain are getting away with it because they are not being reported or punished.

   

  Viv Wharton

  

 If you see animals without water, shade, or proper food, please go to our website downloads page and print this off for owners..thank you.

http://www.actin-spain.com/downloads/