News
Puerto Real Dog Pound Closed For Good
January 05, 2008, 12:53AM MT
By Michael G Rodrigue
For years the animal protection societies as well as several hundred individuals have fought to close down the infamous dog pound in the city of Puerto Real (province of Cádiz) inappropriately named "El Refugio" (The Refuge) but far more commonly known as the "House of Horrors" due to the horrific stories of abuse and mass burials, etc.
For years the animal protection societies as well as several hundred individuals have fought to close down the infamous dog pound in the city of Puerto Real (province of Cádiz) inappropriately named "El Refugio" (The Refuge) but far more commonly known as the "House of Horrors" due to the horrific stories of abuse and mass burials, etc.
A few months ago an Italian couple, who were on holiday in Spain with their three little dogs, asked at the city hall if someone could recommend a boarding kennel where they could leave their dogs for a few days while they toured the white villages in the mountain range of Cadiz. When the couple returned, to their shock they found that their 3 dogs had been euthanised. One of the dogs was still in the freezer unit, and an autopsy showed the death had been caused by a cruel and inhumane method.
There were protests where hundreds of people took to the streets in front of the city hall of Cadiz in support of the Italian couple. The husband of that couple was unjustly accused of unruly conduct and was imprisoned, adding insult to injury.
An influential animal organisation in Madrid, "El Refugio" (not related to the Puerto Real Refugio) was contacted with a plea for help. Some weeks later the president of Refugio Kimba was contacted by an inspector from the Ministry of the Environment in Madrid regarding the Puerto Real dog pound.
Subsequently there was a meeting at Refugio Kimba with a female veterinarian who had been helping an animal rescue society at the Puerto Real dog pound. She had taken under cover videos of eutanisations to the animals by use of a neuromuscular paralysing sustance -- forbidden by law -- which was being indiscriminantly injected into the dogs and cats provoking a very slow and agonising death by asphyxiation and progressive paralysis of the extremities.
The animals would be fully conscious for several minutes while suffocating to death as the respiratory muscles were affected. A mere cost of 35 euros would be able to kill ten tons of dogs and cats with this pharmaceutical substance called Mioflex, which was the substance used to kill the 3 dogs belonging to the Italian couple.
The veterinarian who took the video also made tape recordings of employees' conversations in which they were laughing about the agonising deaths of the animals. The videos and tape recordings were turned over to law enforcement agencies.
Upon reviewing the case a judge charged 5 employees with animal abuse, took away the veterinarian's license to practice animal medicine, and ordered that the pound be closed for good.
The following day several animal protection societies were on the scene, but when they were told that the only ones who would be allowed to go in would be those going in to rescue the animals, the only group who went in was from Refugio Kimba.
"It broke our hearts to see such a large number of dogs and cats inside, and we were the only ones in there, all by ourselves" said Maria José Jaén of Refugio Kimba. "But we rescued every last one of them over a two day period, and we even rescued a goat, 2 sheep and a ferret."
The volunteers at Kimba had to scramble to prepare space for all of the new arrivals. They quickly cleaned and prepared an old unused kennel building at Kimba and were able condition it to be able to house the newomcers. A sister organisation from Málaga (the neighboring province) came two days later and took several of the cats and a few of the dogs back to Málaga. Kimba volunteers removed a total of 22 dogs from the "house of horrors".
All of the animals from the pound who arrived at Kimba needed veterinary care, as well as vaccinations, microchips, sterilisations etc. etc. It has been a huge burden for the few volunteers who run Kimba to take on this large group of needy newcomers in addition to the 160 dogs and 20 cats that already live at Kimba. These folks deserve a great deal of credit for all their hard work to save the animals.
It is a shame that the Spanish government chooses to look the other way to all of the horrific animal abuse that occurs on a daily basis in what is considered to be a modern country belonging to the European Union. Literally thousands of animals had to suffer very cruel and inhumane deaths over the years at the Puerto Real Dog Pound before appropriate action was ever taken.
If you would like to offer help, you can contact Refugio Kimba at
protectorakimba@hotmail.com
You can visit their website at http://www.refugiokimba.org
Author: Michael Rodrigue