Police rescue 140 maltreated dogs from illegal kennels and puppy farms in Mijas

Spain's National Police force has discovered two warehouses and a property, in Mijas and Fuengirola, where dogs were allegedly being housed and bred illegally. A 42-year-old man who ran a pet store was arrested for his alleged responsibility for the crimes of animal abuse and intensively breeding dogs. A total of 140 dogs, in appalling conditions have been released by police, among them many females subjected to intensive sexual reproduction.

The investigation started after a complaint was filed at the Mijas Guardia Civil headquarters in May. The owner of a dog reported the ill-treatment that her dog had been threatened with after she left it to be boarded at a pet store in Fuengirola. She said she began to receive threats from the person in charge of the establishment to pay him money. In order to try and persuade her to pay up she was sent a video showing the bad conditions and the mistreatment that the animal would receive if she didn’t.

During the police investigations, officers went to the establishment, located in Fuengirola, in order to rescue the dog. There they found seventeen dogs of different breeds that lacked official documentation and chips. In addition, the dogs were in conditions that endangered their health. It then transpired that the pet shop owner also had two illegal kennels in warehouses in Mijas, in one of which the woman's dog was found.

Police discovered the animal, a water dog, lying lifeless on the ground, with around 65 other dogs.

Both warehouses together with a home of the investigated pet store owner were also being used as puppy farms. Among the animals found there were numerous females used for breeding, some with their lactating pups and others in a state of pregnancy. In addition, none of the facilities were registered for the breeding of domestic animals, did not meet the conditions to serve as a breeding ground, lacked drainage systems for excrement, had no ventilation or natural lighting, and did not even have hygienic feeders and drinkers installed.

After the initial investigations were carried out, the police rescue of the animals from the warehouse was coordinated with a veterinarian from the Official College of Veterinarians of Malaga, who checked the dogs and verified the unhygienic sanitary conditions and poor state of the animals housed in them. Some dogs had to undergo surgery because the basic principles of animal welfare were not respected.

In total, 140 dogs were rescued, some suffered from serious illnesses, others had skin lesions. Some large breeds had wounds on the extremities and on the ears. Some also had cuts and dental fractures. Medications that caused an abnormal development of the gestational state of the dogs were also found.

The owner of the facilities was arrested for the crime of animal abuse and another for the intensive procreation of animals in the puppy farms.