The killing of street dogs in Mexico is not unusual but the fact that authorities may be the perpetrators, is!
Sadly, that is what many believed happened late last month when a municipal police vehicle allegedly traveled the streets spreading poison. A total of 24 dogs in San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula died as a result, and not all of the victims were one’s that lived on the streets.
According to Hilda Toledo,president of Activistas de protecion (APAOAX), an Oaxaca-based animal rights organization that reportedly learned of the poisoning from local residents who lost their own dogs to the poisoning, this was not only an act of “cruelty to animals” but a crime threatening the health of residents as the bodies of the deceased animals were disposed of in the community’s open-air garbage dump.
This lethal sweep of the streets with poison reportedly occurred when authorities were cleaning up the streets in preparation for an annual festival.
APAOAX had previously protested this appalling action, a common practice in dozens of municipalities and communities in the state. The organization has argued for sterilization campaigns, which it operates, instead of the poisoning the street dogs.
As reported in the Mexico News Daily, Toledo tried to no avail to communicate with local authorities and has launched complaints with the state Health Secretariat and Attorney General. Neither replied.
The newspaper also noted that Toledo had accused state police of apathy over the Animal Protection Law which calls for jail terms of six months to five years along with fines for intentionally killing an animal.
The law, which was enacted last September, contained loopholes that granted impunity to those who broke it, according to Toledo.
A 2015 article in the Yucatan Times noted that “Though there are no up to date hard and fast stats for how many dogs are eking out an existence in Mexico, Mexico City authorities report that they capture and kill an estimated 20,000 dogs per month in their city alone.”
Source: Mexico News Daily, Yucatan Times
Photo Credit: My Mexican Dog
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