"Mom, the dogs are coming... They're attacking me". These were the last words of Arancha, the 27-year-old nurse attacked by a pack of dogs while walking along a rural road in the small town of Roales del Pan, in Zamora. The young woman was on the phone with her mother when the dogs (five adults and two puppies) pounced on her. When her parents and emergency teams arrived in the area, nothing could be done to save Arancha's life.
The tragic event caused by the dogs – three mastiffs, two Leonese shepherds, in addition to the two puppies – has ended, as it could not have happened in any other way, in court. The representative of the Government in Castile and Leon, Virginia Barcones, has already pointed out that the owner of the animals could face a crime of "reckless homicide". He has been fully identified – he is an itinerant shepherd who lives in a caravan in that area of pastures – and yesterday he stopped by the Civil Guard command to testify, waiting to be brought before the court.
Judicial sources agree with Virginia Barcones in the fact that the case initiated could end up in criminal proceedings for reckless homicide. The Civil Guard would have booked him for this crime. There is a death and charges could materialize if the shepherd is deemed to have been negligent for failing to control the dogs, even if they are not on the list of dogs considered dangerous. The animals are now in quarantine and there is a high probability that they will end up being euthanized after they have been shown to be dangerous to humans.
It will be necessary to check, on the other hand, if they were well cared for, were they hungry or presented some other symptom of abandonment. And it will also be necessary to confirm, as has been said, if the dogs had already carried out other attacks a few days ago with a group of cyclists and two other residents of Roales. It will also be necessary to verify whether the shepherd was aware of these events and did nothing to control the animals, which went to his house without any supervision. The mayor of this town of Zamora, David García, assured yesterday that he was not aware of any complaint for previous attacks and that the files opened against the rancher are for issues that have nothing to do with his dogs.
In veterinary forums, this violent attack has come as a surprise, due to the fact that it was carried out by Leonese shepherds. They consider the event as "an exceptional event", since all these grazing dogs do is limit themselves to protecting their surveillance territory. And it's strange that they abandon the assigned mission to attack people.
The College of Veterinarians of Zamora has been in charge of checking the documentation of the animals. Among the adults, four had identification chips and all the papers were in order. A fifth dog does not have this documentation and it is being investigated whether it was already required or if it was not mandatory due to its age.
The City Council of Roales del Pan – a town of only one thousand inhabitants – has decreed three days of mourning. The news of Arancha's death in these circumstances has shocked the population, where the young woman was highly regarded.
