It was on the 10th of February, 2017 that Chico, (a Border Collie) strayed onto a neighbour’s land in Monachil and was shot by the owner.

Now, just over a year later, the landowner, A.F. has had his 15-month, suspended sentence confirmed by an appeals court.

Not only did A.F. shoot Chico, but he also slit his throat, for good measure, and then put the body into a sack and threw it into the boot of his car before dumping the carcass next to a stream.

Unfortunately for our trigger-happy villain, there were several witnesses who had heard the shot and one of them later actually saw A.F. putting the carcass into the white sack.

The appeals magistrates (it was a tribunal) agreed with the sum set in the first sentence, amounting to 3,500 euros in compensation for Chico’s owner, owing to the sentimental attachment between the dog and its adoptive family.

“The affection towards a pet is well known and such a violent death would logically cause suffering and thus warrant compensation for moral damages,” explained the tribunal’s head magistrate.

The culprit also has to pay a further 270 euros for the ‘value of the animal’ and is banned from working with, or owning, animals for a period of three years. He also lost his gun licence.

Editorial comment: now this might not sound remarkable to a citizen from over the Pyrenees  but in Spain, it is most certainly so. This case is not only about loss of property (a dog) but its sentimental value as a family member. Totally unheard of 20 years ago.

(News: Monachil, Granada, Andalucia)