ISSUE NO. 1637
17 - 23 November 2016
COSTA DEL SOL
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Animals endured ‘slow and painful’ deaths By Matthew Elliott Thousands of cats and dogs were left to die a ‘slow and painful death’ at a Torremolinos animal care centre, a Malaga court has heard. Carmen Marin and her employee Felipe Barco presided over a dungeon of brutality where 2,200 animals met their deaths. Her animal park claimed to provide shelter and medical services to abandoned pets and stray animals, but was actually engaged in a mass killing campaign characterised by stark cruelty, the prosecution say. From 2008 until Marin’s arrest in 2010 the pair allegedly injected the animals, many of them completely healthy, with euthanasia drugs neither were authorised to administer. Experts from the Veterinary
College of Malaga believe they intentionally plied the animals with small doses to save money, leaving them to ‘writhe in pain for hours.’ No sedatives were given. Photos taken by the Guardia Civil graphically illustrate the conditions and the dead animals but are too
distressing to print. Ms Marin has vigorously denied the claims in court. She describes herself as an animal lover who wouldn’t even clip their toenails and said she has many well looked after pets at home. One defence was an allergy to needles. She also says only 283 ani-
mals were killed during her tenure, all of them legally. Marin and her family have also been investigated for allegedly spending donations to the park on holidays and spa treatments. Prosecutors are demanding a four-year prison sentence and the verdict is due this week.