Spanish courts issue rulings in separate animal cruelty cases

In two distinct legal proceedings in Spain, courts have issued rulings regarding animal cruelty.

A court in Barakaldo, Vizcaya, acquitted a man accused of animal abuse for the aesthetic ear cropping of two American Bully dogs. Although the court acknowledged the dogs had cropped ears, the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the owner performed the procedure or commissioned it. The case followed reports from a veterinarian who refused to perform the illegal procedure and alerted the police.

In a separate case, the Court of Instance of Burgos sentenced the individual responsible for a facility in Melgar de Fernamental, known as the ‘breeding kennel of horrors,’ to two and a half years in prison. The court found that over one hundred animals were kept in unsanitary conditions without adequate food or water between November 2019 and February 2020, resulting in the deaths of 21 dogs from extreme malnutrition. The defendant was also ordered to pay significant indemnities to the Junta de Castilla y León and an animal defense association for veterinary costs.