ANIMAL PROTECTION BADLY UNDERSTOOD

MAY 2005

This morning we went to retire some dogs that and old lady had locked up in her house, under deplorable conditions, infested with parasites, undernourished, ill and agonising. Some days earlier, the police had counted 35 dogs of different breeds, when they peeped in from the door of the house.

The recovering of the animals was carried out by the Seprona (Rural Police Force), the city council of Chiclana, the municipal dog pound and members of the Kimba, the society for protection of animals and plants of Cadiz.

When we got to the house, the old lady was waiting for us at the door, trying to impede our entry, alleging that she had no more dogs and that they were “robbed” the day before. We tried to coax her into letting us enter and finally succeeded. We convinced her and she let in the president of Kimba and a Seprona Agent.

While both of them were inside, we started to explore the surroundings, as the neighbours had told us that the old lady desperately tried to “hide” some of the animals by tying them up in the surrounding area. We found 2 greyhounds and 3 mongrels tied up to a fence and when we proceeded to get them into our van, we heard an animal crying and I trembled when I saw what we came across: we discovered a husky in a terrible state: it had a “hole” in its face, infested with flies and a terrible eye infection. The poor animal was in an agonising state.

It was a horrible sight! The poor animals were in a sorrowful state, all of them undernourished and ill.

Meanwhile, inside the house, or president and the Seprona agent found 6 dead dogs, some in an advanced state of decay. In a plastic bag covered with flies, they found a small dog with its puppy, both dead. And out of the house came 5 frightened starving greyhounds in the same state as all the other animals we found alive: absolutely deplorable.

We rescued a total of 17 dogs that were still barely alive and 8 dead animals.

According to the neighbours we interviewed, somebody had taken away quite a few dogs the day before in a car.

The worst of the whole matter is that some people think that by helping the old lady hide the dogs they are doing a good deed, but what they are actually doing is completely the opposite: they are condemning the animals to starvation, horror and suffering.

The neighbours told us that some dogs were compelled to eat the dead animals to be able to survive.

From these lines we’d like to tell those that help her hide the dogs that we do not consider them animal protectors. Love towards animals is not shown by collaborating with a mad old lady to maintain such animals suffering in their short and unfortunate life. The only “bad” thing that they did was to fall in the hands of people that cannot evaluate the degree of suffering of an animal.

All the rescued animals were sent to the dog pound where they’ll be checked by the vets and those that have a good chance of recovering Hill be sent to Kimba. We urgently need help to find them homes and a second, decent opportunity.

thank you very much.