(North-West Granada) A dog owner in Huescar has been fined for leaving his dog chained up in a stable for several months, with hardly any room to move. When the police took the dog’s chain off, the fur was worn off exposing bleeding skin. Furthermore, the dog was starving.

It was thanks to a foreign woman who reported the situation to Seprona, which is the Guardia Civil unit charged with policing environmental and animal offences.

Thanks to a recent change in the Penal Code, a judge no longer needs evidence of ensañamiento (intent to cause suffering through malice) to hand down a prison sentence in these cases; it is sufficient for the animal to have suffered without demonstrating that the person caused this suffering with intent.

Consequently, the owner is facing a suspended prison sentence between three and twelve months, which can be reduced to a large fine if the culprit possesses no criminal record.

During 2010, Seprona investigated six cases of animal cruelty, four of which which resulted in fines for the animal owners.

Readers might remember the municipal policeman from Puebla de Don Fadrique that was taken to court for shooting a Pekinese dog that was sleeping on its owner’s doorstep at the time. The policeman was consequently fined 600 euros.

The Mayor had given the local police instructions to “do something about” the dog, which had attracted several complaints from locals. The Mayor later claimed that he hadn’t meant for the policeman to kill it… Hmmm. Sounds like a Henry II/Beckett moment (Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?)

(News: Huescar, Altiplano de Granada, Granada, Andalucia)