The Court of Instruction Number 2 of Arrecife has opened criminal proceedings to investigate alleged crimes in the management of the Teguise municipal dog pound, following complaints filed with Seprona by several volunteers.
Both animal rights associations and the opposition in the City Council had been publicly warning of the situation of the dog pound, and even made public images and videos showing the state of the shelter. Now, the issue has reached the Courts, to whom Seprona sent the complaints.
For the moment, the Councilor for Animal Welfare, Gerardo Rodríguez, and two municipal workers are listed as being under investigation. The judge had summoned them to testify this Wednesday, although it seems that the statements have been suspended.
The magistrate has also begun to summon and take statements from witnesses and complainants, such as Fabrizio Dutto. “The situation has existed for a year,” he told La Voz. In his case, he is one of the volunteers who go to walk dogs, and argues that the animals are in a space that does not meet the conditions, in the old part of the dog pound.
“For some time they have not had a permanent veterinarian, and there is even a dog with serious health problems”, adds the volunteer. He already referred to this animal in his first complaint to Seprona, stating that in March 2021 it was “suffering” from a polyp in one of its ears and that it was finally operated on six months later, but complications arose "for not properly performing the postoperative period", and "the dog continues to be untreated" to this day.
Fabrizio states that in addition to his personal complaint, Ademal and Seprona “have also denounced the City Council”, which has led to the opening of these proceedings.
"They keep telling lies"
It should be remembered that last July the PSOE publicly denounced the state of the municipal dog pound, and the City Council responded that “there was nothing to hide.” In addition, the Councilor for Animal Welfare assured that these images corresponded to “an old garage” in disuse, and that the facilities met “optimal conditions.”
“They talk about an investment for a new part of the shelter, but the reality is that this area cannot be used,” says Fabrizio, who also maintains that this information “is known to the Court” and that the City Council “continues to tell lies.”
In his complaint, he stated that there were "unfinished works in the old part", that "the issue of the space under the cages has not been resolved, where excrement and urine mix and remain inside the kennels" and that "the drain in the new part discharges directly into the street, not having a septic tank."
In addition, he also warned of the situation of other animals, such as a dog that could have "conjunctivitis and dermatitis" and another with a possible tumor in the mammary glands, "without receiving veterinary attention and without treatment." To this he added that in the center "there is no permanent person to be able to attend to the volunteers and the people who come to adopt the animals", as well as that "pure bleach is being used for cleaning, causing possible dermatological and ocular burns."
After learning of the opening of these criminal proceedings, the City Council sent a statement this Tuesday in which it did not mention it, but did state that it has allocated more workers to the dog pound, assuring that they have made progress with the works and insisting that they will invest 200,000 euros in awarding the management of the shelter, which was contemplated in this year's budgets but has not yet been carried out.