A 56-year-old woman was arrested in Vélez-Málaga for alleged cruelty to animals after keeping her dog locked up on a terrace for years.

It was a neighbour who alerted the authorities to the existence and state of the dog on the 8th of November, and owing to its very poor state of health, it was immediately taken to a local vet.

The neighbour claimed that the dog, called Candela, had been kept on a small terrace for some years and when the police went around to check out the claim, they found Candela with her ribs and hips showing owing to malnutrition. She could also barely walk.

The dog, which suffers from leishmaniasis, weighed only 23 kilos when she should have weighed closer to 42 kilos. She also has an infection in both eyes and displays a neurotic disorder causing the dog to bite itself.

The dog, a rottweiler, has found a temporary home at the Cantalobos Animal Refuge home in Almuñécar, whilst a permanent home is found.

(News: Velez-Malaga/Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)