The Tossa de Mar City Council (la Selva, Girona) yesterday flatly denied the accusations of inaction launched against its local police by an NGO in defense of animal rights, and collected by this newspaper on the 24th. The Altarriba Foundation, who was essential in the eradication of sacrifices in the animal shelters of Catalonia, has backtracked and admits that the mayor's office is right.
This altruistic entity is made up of jurists who in some cases have been defending animals for more than 30 years or who for 20 were part of the animal rights defense commission of the Barcelona Bar Association. From the 20th, and until this newspaper reported it, he denounced a scandalous situation in his networks and before the City Council, through a request that was not answered until yesterday.
The letter accused the police of inaction at the request of a group of citizens who found a small dog abandoned inside a car in full sun. The case has uncovered the existence of a citizen chat in which there were two police officers in their personal capacity. The first notice, at 1:49 p.m., was launched here. Someone then remembered that this is not an official channel and asked that the police be called.
The call was made at 1:53 p.m. and five minutes later a motorist came. Not just any one, but a canine guide. With the help of a citizen who remained in the place, the agent managed to lower a window and remove the animal from the car, "which did not show alarming signs, but which could have ended badly if the case had lasted," according to the chief of the local police, José Sánchez.
A neighbor took care of the animal, "to avoid a more stressful situation in the kennel." Its French owners went to the police station and explained that they had suffered a medical emergency without knowing where to leave their dog. The neighbor who kept it was notified at 2:44 p.m. and at 3:08 p.m. she went to the police headquarters to return it. The NGO, and this newspaper, accepted an erroneous version of the facts.
The protectors remember that not all imprudence is avoided in time, as has happened with the one in Tossa de Mar and another recent one in Terrassa, where a dog without food, water or shade was about to jump into the void. That happened precisely on Monday in the Sant Pau neighborhood, where a dog that was on a balcony attached to a rope jumped fatally into the street to escape the heat and ended up hanging. The local police have denounced the owner for animal abuse.
