Two people were arrested in Vélez-Málaga after it was discovered that they had 22 horses and four dogs, all sick and emaciated. The accompanying photo speaks for itself.

One of the animals, a pony, had to be put down owing to its irretrievable state of health; it had an incurable injury to one of its legs that was causing it great suffering.

Furthermore, two mares are in a critical state; one completely emaciated, infected wounds and ulcers all over its body; the other with a bloody lesion on one of it hooves.

After a check up by a veterinary surgeon who had accompanied the police, the animals were placed in the custody of several animal protection organizations.

The police had been alerted to the situation by one such animal rights organization, who informed them that the horses belonged to a 44-year man and the four dogs to a 75-year-old one.

As for the dogs, again, extreme emaciation and abandoned; one bitch was missing teeth and had problems walking. It goes without saying that the dogs were lacking all vaccinations, etc, as was the case with some of the horses.

Going back to the state of the horses, one of them had a bleeding wound on the neck caused by a rope used to keep it permanently tied up – the wound required 38 stitches to close up.

Editorial comment: the two men should be treated exactly the same way, if there were any justice in the world. A fine is not going to change that sort of attitude and neither would a short prison sentence.

(News: Velez-Malaga, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)