A dog handler from Purchis-Vegas del Genil (Granada) has been handed down a nine-month, suspended sentence for animal cruelty.
Four years ago her dog was found drowned in her pool – the animal used to drink from the pool where it was driven to through thirst.
According to the court findings at the Criminal Court Number 3 in Granada, the woman was both the owner of the Belgian Shepherd (Malinois), which was not microchipped, and a dog handler.
Besides the suspended sentence, she has been banned from working with animals for two years and three months
“She kept the animal without enough water,” reads the findings, “which forced the dog to try and drink from the pool, whose water was stagnant.”
The dog drowned on the 26th of April, 2019, which was the day that the dog handler moved out of the dwelling where she had lived since September 2018.
The judge considered it a proven fact that the dog fell into the pool and drowned without the accused attempting to rescue it. It’s body was not found until the 14th of May, at the bottom of the pool
The accused can appeal before a higher court; i.e. the Provincial Appeals Court.
Besides the Public Prosecutor, the Vegas del Genil Town Hall also participated in the prosecution, as well as the Granada Federation of Animal Protection Associations (FEGRAPA).
In her defence, the accused claimed that the dog was not hers and that it must have entered the garden from the adjacent street and that she had gone away three weeks before the body of the dog was found. However, the judge considered it proven that she was the owner of the dog.
Furthermore, the judge considered it an impossibility that any dog could have jumped the perimeter wall of the dwelling owing to its height.
Neighbours who gave evidence stated that she often left the dog without water so that it had to try and obtain it from the pool.
Finally, when the pool was emptied, there were scratch marks on the side of the pool where the dog had tried in vain to get out.
(News: Vegas de Genil, Granada, Andalucia)