What are your images of Spain? Are you thinking of visiting or buying a property there? Perhaps you already live out there. Maybe you are contemplating the purchase of a luxury apartment at Polaris World?
Maybe you have thought of all the issues involved before you make such a move, but, if you are an animal lover - or someone who cannot bear to see an animal ill-treated - there is an issue you will not have considered that may, ultimately, affect your decision.
ANIMAL CRUELTY IN SPAIN
Animal cruelty is rife in Spain. From the abandoned animals that litter the towns and countryside, to the frequent road-kills that appear every few kilometres along the Spanish roads, you will soon discover that, with the exception of a few Spaniards and some very dedicated vets, animal welfare is NOT a priority in Spain. There is no dedicated organisation such as the RSPCA, to which one could turn for help or advice.
DOG HELL IN ALHAMA DE MURCIA
On an isolated strip of land, in a mainly agricultural region of Murcia, about 10km from the town of Alhama de Murcia and approximately one kilometre from the new Polaris World development of Condado de Alhama, there is an example of animal abuse that is all too common in this region.
On first inspection, this compound does not appear to be as bad as some images you can find that highlight animal cruelty, but look a little closer and read on........
This small island of Dog Hell began life as a narrow strip of uncultivated scrubland. A rectangular strip of land, it measures about 25m wide by 250m....not enough to legally build any permanent structures but large enough to dump a few animals.
Just over two years ago, in March 2005, a fence was erected to enclose the land and the first of the dogs were confined. There were four dogs, initially, and they were left in the compound which, while enclosed by a a well-built low wall and fence, was still a narrow strip of uncultivated scrub land with no shelter of any description, no power and no water. Their owner, a Spanish woman, resident of the town of Alhama de Murcia, visited every two or three days to leave food and water for them. The enclosed space was littered with the debris from the fence-building work and was extremely hazardous for any animal to move around in.
PET CARE - SPANISH STYLE!
When the few residents of the area realised there was soon to be a dog compound on their doorstep, and alarmed at the conditions into which the dogs were being placed, they enquired about the proposed plan for the care of the animals. They soon learned that these dogs were to be confined in the compound while their owner remained living in the town. She informed them that these animals were her pets and this was their new home. Unsurprisingly, given the isolation and lack of amenities in the area, she was not planning on sharing this new home with them! The surrounding area, like the compound, is desolate.
FIGHTS AND BEATINGS
After a couple of weeks the bored and neglected dogs began to fight amongst themselves and two in particular were often covered in blood. Their owner made no effort to separate them or tend to their injuries. On one occasion, as the dogs fought for attention on one of her visits, she picked up a length of pipe and began to beat one of the dogs with it!
DEATHS AND A SHALLOW GRAVE
More dogs were dumped as the weeks went on. When one of the bitches gave birth to a couple of puppies it was during the full heat of a summer's day where there was still no shelter and little water. Predictably, the owner failed to show for a couple of days and one of the puppies died. When she did show, she merely picked up the dead pup, cleared a shallow space in an area close to where the bitch was nursing her other pup, dumped the dead puppy into the depression and covered it with a wooden pallet....one of the many that lay about the place. The little grave became an intense area of interest for the other dogs!
PERSONAL SPACE
As the months passed, Dog-Girl (as we shall call her), began to put corrugated iron shelters into the compound to store foodstuffs. More fencing was erected to divide the compound into smaller sections. The dogs were placed into smaller areas, restricting their freedom and cutting them off from each other. While these structures offered some shelter to some of the dogs, they were furnaces during the heat of the summer when temperatures rise into the high 30s. For an unlucky few, the only shelter they could find was that which they dug for themselves in the scorched earth.
Click on this link:
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/digging_for_shelter/
MORE DEATHS AND BURIALS
Over the next eighteen months, more and more dogs arrived.....and more died. The first small grave had been concreted over (to avoid discovery?), so another area was chosen. This was located in the middle of one of the smaller compounds where a group of dogs lived. The dead animals are unceremoniously dumped into a shallow depression in the ground, then covered with a wooden pallet and rocks.Sometimes Dog-Girl puts the corpse into a black plastic bag, but this cannot prevent the other dogs rummaging around and digging up whatever they can reach. The Husky (below) was made to live in the same area as the buried dogs.Click on this link for images:
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/shallow_graves/
NO HELP
Reports of the illegal structures and the burials were reported to the local Town Hall and Guardia, but nothing was done. Several further complaints have been made but to no avail. The owner is Spanish....the complainants English!!
TWO YEARS ON (Summer 2007)
After two years, the situation has grown out of all proportion. There are now more than 40 dogs in the compound, more than half living in an area so small that the animals barely avoid bumping into each other as they run about and fights break out on a daily basis.
CORPSES AND RATS
At least five dogs have been left to rot in the shallow graves she has dug, all of them within an area in which other dogs live, eat and roam. Other dogs may have been buried surreptitiously as many trips to feed the animals began to take place at night! The numbers of rats and flies increased significantly during this time. When Polaris World begins to take in its clients, and there is more food around, these rats may well find richer pickings over there!
The compound has never been cleaned and the animals live amongst an ever-increasing spread of their own faeces and urine....particularly distressing for those who live in the confines of the smaller pits. The smell of the dogs and their waste is very powerful on a hot summer's day! With a following wind, the residents at Polaris World may be able to share these rich aromas!
Click on this link to see how these poor creatures have to live:
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/filthy_and_inhumane/
LITTER AND DANGER
With the area still in its original state....completely wild apart from a few trees Dog-Girl has planted away from the dogs....and with the builder's debris still littering the living areas, it is a wonder more dogs are not injured as they try to move about, although any injuries would remain untreated anyway.
Click on the link to see more.
://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/dangerous_living_conditions/
PET-LOVER?
There is still no mains power or water to the area, so it is often necessary for Dog-Girl to visit daily, although she tries to leave it to every other day as often as she can. She often arrives at dusk and works without any lights as she puts out the feed and water. Consequently, there is no interaction between her and her 'pets' as her main objective is to leave as soon as she can. Even when she comes during the day, there is no interplay between her and the dogs....except when she thinks she is being observed. Then she makes a show of stroking one or two of the dogs, but it is pitiful and disgraceful to watch. Is this how they treat their pets in Spain?
THIS ANIMAL ABUSE IS OVERT AND WITHOUT CONSCIENCE BECAUSE THE OWNER IS CONFIDENT THE AUTHORITIES WILL DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!
At most, she spends an hour providing the bare essentials for the needs of the animals before she leaves for another 24 or 48 hours. At no other time do the animals have any stimulation, exercise or human companionship. Many no longer make any show of recognising her when she arrives. Many are clearly desperate for their food and water, but there is no further recognition from them once they have been fed. Only the latest 'arrivals' still wag their tails and try to vie for attention, but they, too, will soon learn that they have been abandoned and that this is 'as good as it gets'!
Click here to see more:
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/lonely_bored_unloved/
One Husky in particular, who was always running around and wagging his tail at strangers, now no longer moves from one day to the next. He, more than any of the others, appears to have completely lost the will to live. He sits guarding the pile of food that his owner dumps on the ground, protecting it, as he has no idea when the next meal will arrive.
See the Husky on this link: http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/losing_the_will_to_live
PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE
Some of the dogs display clear signs of psychological distress......weaving from side to side, running back and forth for hours at a time. Others become aggressive and there are daily fights and squeals of pain and distress from many of the dogs, especially those in the smaller pits.
One sweet-natured greyhound, with the freedom to run around the whole length of the compound, has been driven up to the far end by the other dogs in his area. He cannot go down to the food and water as they attack him and drive him back. He is becoming very frail and is regularly covered in bites and bloody scabs. He howls most of the night, every night. He is the only one to whom we can get close enough to record his injuries, although we know there are others in a worse state in the smaller pits.
See this gentle greyhound on this link:
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/untreated_injuries/
RABIES AND DISEASE
There is no evidence that any of these dogs has received the necessary vaccinations or are free of disease. Dog-Girl has been seen injecting the smaller dogs, but the reason is unknown. No vet in the area is aware of this compound and its inmates, as far as we know. There are new regulations coming into Spain, requiring, for instance, all dogs to be chipped. However, the legislation is slow to be implemented in some areas and very poorly enforced in most.
AN UNREGULATED BUSINESS?
While money has been seen changing hands at the compound, there is no business registered at this address and Dog-Girl has always insisted these are her pets. It is possible she is conducting illegal breeding.....some of the dogs are rare breeds, although their physical and mental condition would be open to question, given their living conditions and behaviour. It is also possible that these dogs are, indeed, her pets. If this is the case, they need to be re-homed and to find owners for whom having a pet means love and attention. For some of the dogs in this Dog Hell, the will to live is fast diminishing.
NOISE POLLUTION
Bored and over-heating for most of the day, the dogs vent their feelings at night and they often bark for most of the night and into the early hours. It is possible to hear their howls and barking over 1km away. Polaris World's Condado de Alhama is just over 1km away. Close enough for those enjoying their holiday there to be disturbed?
NOT JUST DOGS........
At the other end of the compound there is a wooden box. This measures about 3ftx4ftx3ft. The only opening is at the top, over which there is a wire mesh, covered by a wooden pallet, rubbish bags and several bricks. Daylight can barely filter through the space that is left. Inside is an animal.....we do not know what kind of animal, although it is possible it is a bird, maybe a breed of foul. It never sees the light of day and never leaves its box. Dog-Girl visits this box once a week, if that, removes a feeding bowl and replaces it with another. Nothing else happens. Like the compound, it has never been cleaned out. Why does she keep it? Would YOU keep any animal like this?
Click here: http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain/who_lives_in_this_hell/
Perhaps the dogs have the best of the situation after all!!
YOU MAY NOT BE SHOCKED BY THIS ACCOUNT, PERHAPS YOU HAVE SEEN MUCH WORSE, BUT IF YOU ARE TOUCHED BY THE PLIGHT OF THESE ANIMALS, PLEASE HELP TO PUBLICISE THIS WEBSITE AND, MAYBE, CHANGE THE LIVES OF THESE ANIMALS FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION, OR WISH TO REGISTER YOUR FEELINGS....OR IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO MAY ALSO BE TOUCHED BY THIS SITUATION, PLEASE PASS ON OUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
WE NEED TO SPREAD THE WORD THAT THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY IN A CIVILISED WORLD.
YOU CAN CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO HAVE A LOOK AT ALL THE IMAGES OF THIS DOG HELL.
http://usera.imagecave.com/dogcrueltyinspain
OR YOU CAN EMAIL US AT: dogcrueltyinspain@mac.com
