The owner of a bogus animal-protection association in Torremolinos was in court after allegedly killing hundreds of animals. Found guilty, she is the first person in Spain to go to prison for a case like this.

Carmen Marín, Chairwoman of Parque Animal, exterminated in a “massive and unjustified” manner, hundreds of cats and dogs up to 2010, according to the court sentence. The judge considers that she both gave instructions and also personally carried out the killings.

Consequently, she has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, for committing forgeries and continued cruelty to animals.

Although she professed a zero-deaths policy, she injected animals without any veterinary control, in a completely inadequate manner (intramuscular instead of intravenous), as well as with lower doses than recommended.

These measures, said the judge, were carried out only in order to cut costs and maximise profit.

Most of the prison sentence corresponded to the crime of forgery, rather than animal cruelty because the documents that she sent to the Town Hall, who paid for the euthanasia of pets, were falsified to include the participation of vets, whereas none were involved.

Furthermore, the putting down of the animals did not correspond to age nor infirmity but instead simply for the priority of making room for more animals to be ‘processed.’

And if all this were not enough, it was also proven that Sra. Marín and her two daughters used animal protection funds for their own personal expenses.

(News: Torremolinos, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)