The murder of Timple, the stray dog that died after being suffocated by two residents of Teguise, has generated consternation and outrage in Lanzarote, especially in Costa Teguise, an area frequented by the animal. "I can't believe what they've done to him," said a neighbor, who says that the dog "was a sweetheart."
As explained in statements to La Voz, the neighbors themselves called the dog Timple, because he was always on this street in Costa Teguise. "He's been around here for at least a year," says this woman, who says that when she first saw him she called the Sara shelter, but they told her that "he was very difficult to catch."
"But the dog didn't cause any problems. We petted him and gave him food sometimes," added this woman, pointing out that other neighbors also gave him food, although most agree that he was skittish. "Some neighbors, who haven't lived here for about four months, would let him into the house, but to play with their dog, he was always there playing," said this neighbor, who considers it "very cruel" how they ended Timple's life. "My daughter started crying when she found out," she added.
A "very elusive" animal but "not aggressive"
The dog not only used to frequent Costa Teguise, but it was also common to see him in Tahíche. There, a neighbor says that "he had been wandering around for years." "He was a sweetheart, a dog that didn't hurt anyone, that wasn't aggressive," said this woman, who says that she met him a few days ago and managed to give him water and food, but that he usually "ran away." "It was a hot day and you could see that the poor thing was dying of thirst. He sat in front of my house, but I didn't even try to catch him because I knew he was going to run away," she said.
For its part, the Sara animal protection association has stated that they had been "trying to help Timple for years", setting "traps to catch him" without ever being able to do so. "His only problem was the terror he had of people," they pointed out from the association, also stating that the dog "never hurt anyone." A story that is repeated from the Teguise City Council, from where they assure that they were also "after him" for some time, but that he was "very elusive."
"We always tried to catch him and he wouldn't let us. We went from Animal Welfare, from the Police, even before I was in the City Council," said the Councilor for Animal Welfare of Teguise, Sara Bermúdez, pointing out that in the municipal kennel they had named him "Rambo", because "he always ran away."
"But he wasn't an aggressive dog," added the councilor, who said that, although he sometimes approached the houses, "he wasn't usually on public roads." "He walked through the mountains of Tahíche and that," said Sara Bermúdez.
"It is a very serious episode that I hope will not be repeated"
According to the councilor, the perpetrators sent the video showing how they were suffocating Timple to the Animal Welfare department of the City Council and also called the kennel to report that they had captured the dog. That call, she explained, occurred before they could see the images and, after it, the kennel worker went to the house where the animal had "sneaked in."
"When the boy arrived, the dog was already dead," said the councilor, who says that the owner of the house even told them that she had done them "a favor." "I had a terrible time that day and I have been having a terrible time these days, because it is very hard to face a case of animal abuse. It is a very serious episode that I hope will not be repeated," concluded the Councilor for Animal Welfare of Teguise.
