The Civil Guard investigated a resident of Priego de Córdoba as the alleged perpetrator of a crime against animals after, allegedly, kill many cats of an urban colony.
The Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard of Rute (Córdoba) has learned of the death of a a large number of felines from the municipality, who showed signs of poisoning.
Officers found an envelope of rodenticide poison and several dead cats among the leftover waste of a plot close to the urban area, where the feline colony is located.
The Civil Guards managed to locate the owner of the land and found a container in which the alleged perpetrator had placed the poisoned bait. The effects of this type of poison coincide with the symptoms that dead cats present (internal bleeding). The suspected poisoner had rodenticide poured into meat for the cats to eat.
Up to three years in prison
Under the new Animal Welfare Act, which came into force in September 2023, the Penal Code has been amended to include the offense against animals, “which contemplates the use of poison as animal abusewhich is punishable by a sentence of four months to two years and any person found guilty of causing the death of an animal may be sentenced to three years in prison», Indicates Seprona.
The unauthorized use of poison is a behavior that constitutes two types of offenses, on the one hand, criminal offense (crime) against animals and, on the other hand, in a administrative offense for its use.
It must be remembered that this type of poison (raticide in small sachets), intended for non-professionals, must be used in a manner bait holder, “It is prohibited to use it in any other way, to prevent it from being eaten by species other than rats or mice, and it must not be used in open spaces accessible to others animals.”
The person indicted and the procedures carried out were made available to the judicial authority.
