A 24 year old man in Cuevas has been arrested for beating his neighbours dog to death and then taunting the owner, an 84 year old woman, about how he killed the animal.
The story is even worse than that, as the dog was her grand-daughters, who had very recently been killed in a car crash. The elderly woman had adopted the dog as “the only living memory I have of my grand daughter”.
It seems the man first set his German Shepard upon the 3,5 kg brown dog, in front of the horrified owner, and then when the shepard lost interest, he proceeded to kick the small dog to death whilst the elderly lady begged him to stop. According to witnesses, he shouted at the woman that “he was going to kill her dog because he wanted to” and that if she interfered “he would kill her too”.
Eventually the man was driven off by some passers by and the old lady was driven by some English neighbours to a nearby vet in Vera, who certified the death of the animal. He later performed an autopsy for the Guardia Civil, and certified the “horrific circumstances” in which the small animal was beaten to death, with its internal organs “mushed”.
Vet Juan Manuel Taboada told La Voz that “in 14 years of this profession, I have never since such a bloody, merciless killing of an animal”.
The matter has been denounced to the Guardia Civil who have been taking statements from witnesses where it happened, in the small Cuevas del Almanzora hamlet of El Alhanchete.