Spanish Police Investigate Suspected Poisoning Of 47 Cats

Police in Spain announced on Thursday that they had launched an inquiry into the suspected poisoning of nearly 50 street cats, which may result in the offenders facing several years in prison under a new animal welfare law.

Naija News reports that locals discovered the bodies of at least ten cats at the local trash where the colony was based on December 31 in La Carlota town, just outside the southern city of Cordoba.

They notified the animal rights group PACMA, which filed a complaint with the Guardia Civil police on Tuesday regarding “the mass poisoning of a 47-strong feline colony.”

“Some of the animals were found inside nearby containers while others were lying in the street with only one survivor, a young male cat which is in very poor state,” a copy of the complaint which was seen by AFP detailed.

The remaining cats had vanished, according to a PACMA spokeswoman, and were assumed to have died in the neighbouring woods when the poison took effect.

Officers from the Guardia Civil’s nature protection service Seprona were called to the area on Wednesday to investigate, according to a spokesman for the police.

“They are looking into whether the deaths were due to poisoning or from other causes. And if there was a crime, to identify the culprits,” he said.

A new rule went into effect in September, increasing the maximum sentence for anyone found guilty of animal abuse that results in death from 18 months to three years in prison.

In a different investigation, authorities declared on Thursday that they had taken down a ring that purportedly brought puppies from Slovakia and Hungary and used false documentation to sell them in Spain.

Officers arrested eight people and rescued over 100 animals during four searches they carried out as part of the operation, a police statement said.