The Guardia Civil and the Policía Local in Vegas del Genil discovered a clandestine breeding kennel for pedigree dogs in an old, tobacco drying house.

The reason that it had gone undetected was that the person who runs it had severed the vocal cords on nearly three dozen pups so neighbours wouldn’t realise that it was there.

The Guardia Civil arrested the 44-year-old man running it, charging him with animal cruelty and posing as a qualified veterinary surgeon without qualifications.

Police investigations began in September when the Vegas de Genil Town Hall forwarded a complaint to Seprona (Environmental Department of the Guardia Civi)l from the Grupo de Voluntarios de Protección Animal concerning the illegal sale of Pomeranian and Maltese Spitz via social media.

With the help of the Policía Local they tracked the breeding kennel down to an old tobacco-drying house. Accordingly, Seprona carried out an inspection of the premises, accompanied by a vet. They found 98 dogs of different breeds including, Poodles, Pomeranians, Chihuahua and Maltese, all in apparent good health. However, the officers found that some of the dogs (34) were unable to bark.

When the police asked the owner about this he admitted that he had operated upon them so that they would not bark and disturb the neighbours.

The veterinary college in Granada was asked for a report on Cordectomy (the extirpation of vocal cords) which explain that general anaesthesia was needed and exhaustive knowledge of anatomy, surgery and pharmacology.

The vet hired by the Town Hall made an exhaustive inspection of five dogs randomly chosen from the 34 affected animals, who confirmed that their vocal cords had been severed.

The kennel owner was immediately arrested, charged and released pending trial.

(News: Vegas del Genil, Vega, Granada, Andalucia)