Unprecedented sentence for animal cruelty

A man who kept 18 donkeys, mules and horses in inhumane conditions which resulted in the death of 10 of them, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison and a 15 year ban on working with animals.

The charges were reported and filed by Seprona for the abuse, mistreatment and lack of basic care towards the animals. When we arrived at the site, the scenes we found were horrific. Many of the animals were already dead and in an advance state of decomposition. 

The smell was horrible and the surviving animals needed urgent care. Some of the animals were dying of starvation, others had open wounds or deformed legs caused by being hobbled all their lives. 

Sadly most of them had to be euthanized as it was the only way to alleviate their suffering, and others died shortly after we rescued them due to their poor health.

Watch our rescue video

The accused owner had several donkeys, mules and horses on his farm, all unregistered and for the most part, without an identification chips. The equines were living in unsafe conditions, surrounded by various sharp materials such as metal sheets and barbed wire. The area was also unhygienic, with no food in the feeders and an insufficient amount of water in the watering troughs. For this reason, the animals were in poor physical condition, skeletal and with large open and infected wounds that had not received any type of veterinary assistance.

During the first inspection carried out by the Seprona, on 22 August 2016, the corpse of a chestnut horse was found, in a state of decomposition, less than 24 hours after its death, and a mule was found loose on the path next to the defendant’s plot, in an extremely thin state and with a high psychological trauma. The mule had been used and mistreated to be “bull-fought” for fun, and it tended to attack people, which made its recovery and subsequent rehabilitation quite difficult.

A second inspection was carried out on 25 August, where the agents found the remains of the corpses of another four animals. Given the precarious state of the animals, and the fact that the accused, despite the previous inspections, had not taken any measures to improve the conditions of the animals, on 6 September the precautionary measure was agreed to seize the animals and hand them over to two equine protection associations, El Refugio del Burrito and Wiston, who took charge of the mistreated horses.

On September 7, the animals were collected, except for two for which it was unfortunately too late: a white horse that had died in the previous 24 hours from starvation and a pregnant bay mare with an unrecoverable fracture in her front leg. In total, 17 animals were rescued alive, 9 of which were in an alarming state and died shortly afterwards as a result of the defendant’s failure to provide basic care. Among the victims was an 8-month-old foal with rickets, severe parasitic infection and malnutrition; several animals with leg deformities due to the continued use of hobbles, others with acute colic, dermatitis and purulent wounds with a catastrophic prognosis and a donkey with a very pronounced neurological condition.

As a result, the judge has sentenced the accused as criminally responsible for 10 crimes for each of the animals that lost their lives as a direct consequence of the omission of care. Seven crimes of animal abuse and three crimes of aggravated animal abuse. Resulting in six months of prison and one year and three months of disqualification from owning or working with animals for each of the first seven crimes; and 8 months of prison and 2 years of disqualification for each of the remaining three crimes. As well as the payment of the procedural costs and expenses incurred by the associations: €7,578.76 plus the respective legal interest.

Sadly, we were not able to give them back their precious lives, but at least we have done justice in their names and we hope that this sentence serves as a model and precedent for other provinces, courts and judges in Spain in order to increase the penalties and end impunity for animal abuse.