FOUR DOGS POISONED
Four happy little dogs escaped from the garden of a finca owned by Anita Stearmen and her family. They had escaped before and always returned later enjoying a run in nearby fields and happily chasing each other they came upon some tasty scraps of food along the footpath.
Three of them were 5 month old puppies and they quickly gobbled up these unexpected treats as they continued running and playing together. However, after a few minutes each one of them was writhing in agony on the ground with convulsions. Each one died, close to each other in the same area but alone in their misery and suffering. They had run just a little farther away from the house this time, into an area that has a public footpath through the countryside and is also used by members of a local hunting club. A sign near to the to dogs bodies states: 'Coto Privado De Caza' (Private Hunting Grounds) and the club registration number 10.335.
The poison had been in small pieces of rolled up meat, put down with the intention of poisoning foxes, to stop them from killing rabbits, the rabbits being herbivores having no interest in this bait. The foxes are poisoned and die and the local rabbit population explodes, an abundance of targets for the hunter's guns. The local hunting club makes money from members of other hunting clubs, each one paying a fee to come here and join them in the shooting spree. The more rabbits they ‘bag' the more money the local club members take from the visitors.
“There are many skeletons and dried bones everywhere on the ground, how many of them are the remains of foxes, or the remains of dogs, is impossible to clarify. One thing is certain, these four pet dogs were poisoned there and died there.” Explains animal welfare campaigner Mark Lewis.
It is known that they were poisoned because when the owners neighbour was out walking she came upon one the dead dogs. After reporting this to the dog's owner, Anita and her daughter Emily, then went to the location dreading what she would find there. She took their older dog Mitzi, the mother of the three pups, along with her. Walking along the same footpath, and before she could prevent it, Mitzi found and ate one of those tasty little meat treats on the ground. The inevitable painful symptoms started quickly, just as Emily found the dead bodies of the other four dogs. Realising that it was probably the same poison Mitzi had eaten that had killed the other dogs Emily rushed Mitzi to the vet clinic where she received immediate treatment to combat the poison in her system. Mitzi suffered greatly and was in intensive care for a few days but mercifully she survived.
Local animal welfare devotees Mark Lewis and his daughter Yvonne are well known for their volunteer work with abandoned and injured animals and maintain an information web site for people that have pets in Spain. It was these two people that Anita Stearman first reported the incident to, they went immediately to investigate and returned again some days later to discover more evidence. “The day that we returned there to inspect the footpath and adjoining land there were indications of the hunters being in the area that very morning, cigarette butts and shotgun cartridges were strewn across the landscape. On the same footpath we found what we believe to be one of the poisoned pieces of rolled up meat and fat, nearby was a carrier bag that had been discarded which looked as though it had been used to carry the poisoned bait. The name of a small business in La Hoya is on the carrier bag.”
Mark told us the area where the poison was found is in the countryside just off the CV-853 La Marina to La Hoya road, behind the tennis courts. There is a pedestrian footpath signpost on this road adjacent to the tennis courts pointing directly towards the fields where the poison and Anita's dogs were found dead. They want to warn everyone that may walk their dogs in this area about the poisoning in an effort to prevent anyone else's pet suffering the same fate.
It is illegal to place poison on the ground on land frequented by people and domesticated pets. However, this happens all over Spain and has gone on for to long. Anita, Mark and Yvonne are determined to expose the truth behind this tragedy and discover who is responsible. They are bringing this matter and the evidence they have recovered to the attention of the appropriate authorities. People can view a video of the exact area where the poison was found on You Tube, the page title is: PetsInSpain (no spaces). For updates on this story and for other important information about keeping a pet in Spain please visit the Pets In Spain web site: www.petsinspain.info
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/31558/Home Insurance | Spanish Home Insurance | Home Insurance in Spain | Spanish Property | Costa Blanca Spanish Property | Spain Property | Spanish Real Estate | Spain Real Estate
