Elderly man, 85, arrested for placing poisoned bait in a village in southern Spain

The Guardia Civil has brought an 85-year-old man before the courts as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of animal abuse. The man had allegedly placed poisoned bait on a farm in the town of Jete, which caused the serious poisoning of two dogs and the death of a domestic cat.

The Seprona nature protection service of the Guardia Civil of Motril started the investigation after two people reported that their dogs had suffered severe poisoning while walking in a spot in the town of Jete. On detecting that dark spots had appeared in the animals' vomit, they rushed them to a veterinary clinic where they were able to save their lives.

Seprona officers analysed the data from the GPS collars worn by the dogs during the walk, and reconstructed the route taken. After inspecting the farms they had passed through, they found a piece of meat in one of them impregnated with a dark purple granulated substance. On closer inspection of a plastic bottle stored in the suspect's toolshed, they found traces of the same product and proceeded to take action.

Two days after the discovery, the Guardia Civil and environmental officers of the coastal biogeographical unit were activated, with the support of the specialised canine unit of the Andalusian strategy for the fight against poison. They searched the area and located the body of a domestic cat in an advanced state of decomposition.

The officers collected samples of the evidence of the poisoning and sent them to the centro de análisis y diagnóstico de Fauna Silvestre (CAD), based in Malaga. The results obtained confirmed that the bottle in question contained an extremely toxic pesticide, the use of which has been banned by the European Union since 2007. The report also determined that the domestic cat found on the farm had died from poisoning with the same substance.

With the evidence gathered, the Guardia Civil proceeded to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice for a crime of animal abuse.