The dog was in terrible health conditions due to severe malnutrition.
A veterinarian was investigated for a crime of omission
Last August, the SEPRONA Neighborhood Patrol investigated two people for the possession of a dog in a private home in a precarious state, presenting extremely severe thinness and probably suffering from filaria, according to the statements of several veterinarians.
The investigation was initiated by SEPRONA as a result of citizen collaboration and a shelter in which they reported the terrible physical conditions of a dog that a citizen had found on the street in Tasarte, municipality of the Village of San Nicolás, which motivated the inspection. of the agents.
Given the terrible conditions that the animal was found in and seeing that no one in the town of Tasarte responded like its owner after having asked for help on social networks to identify it, it was taken to a veterinarian in the town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana for an evaluation. of the animal's condition, since it showed symptoms of being malnourished due to its poor physical condition.
The veterinarian, after carrying out different tests, confirmed that the dog was in a state of serious signs of malnutrition and poor hygienic and sanitary conditions, diagnosing osteoarthritis in the hip and muscle atrophy, severe malnutrition, filaria and dermatitis.
Therefore, in view of the announcement on social networks, it was possible to identify the owner of the dog who appeared at the Veterinary Center, communicating that it belongs to her father and that she took care of it because her father had an illness.
Furthermore, the veterinarian confirmed that the person responsible for the dog does not have a health card, microchip, or vaccines, including the mandatory rabies vaccine. According to what the person responsible tells the shelter, the dog is not in bad condition and that its condition is due to its advanced age, this being the reason for its thinness, and not because the animal is tied with a chain that was not of the same length. enough so that the dog could move with a minimum of freedom, having urine and excrement around it without cleaning and that the 20 ml of feed it eats are enough.
The protector, seeing her good faith, returns the animal, agreeing to be able to see the animal. After a while, the shelter does not receive any information about the dog so she decides to report it to SEPRONA. The agents appear at the address where the owner of the animal resides, in order to see the state of the animal. To do this, she requests the presence of the official veterinarian of the corresponding City Council.
Once at the place, it was observed that it was a Labrador Retriever or mixed breed dog, and together with the veterinarian it was possible to observe that the dog had severe malnutrition (extreme thinness), as well as several wounds in the spine and both. ears, verifying that when walking he lost balance in his hind limbs, supposedly due to lacking sufficient muscles.
When SEPRONA identified the person responsible for the animal, he could not document or prove any mandatory veterinary treatment or the most basic care to guarantee its life and health, arguing that it would be handed over to the court, concluding that it had been subjected to a unjustified suffering.
On the part of the official veterinarian, she did not make the decision to seize the animal despite the terrible condition it was in, which is why the veterinarian was investigated by omission.
Due to these events, two people were investigated as alleged perpetrators of a crime of animal abuse, with the proceedings being made available to the Santa María de Guía Police Court, as well as the Las Palmas Provincial Environmental Prosecutor's Office.
