This is year is not off to a very good start for dogs, there has been a lot of bad and disturbing news and this story is no different. Dogster brought us this story this morning about the strays in a Mexico City park killing four people. Though if you read the story, it sounds like there is doubt as to what dogs actually did this. There is no question that there is a major problem with strays in Mexico City, but I hope they find the right dogs and more innocent dogs do not die. The full story is below.
The stray-dog problem in Mexico City is getting much-needed attention
after the horrific events at a Mexico City park called Cerro de la
Estrella during the past two weeks. On Dec. 29, police found the bodies
of a 26-year-old woman and a 1-year-old child. Then, on Jan. 5, they
found the bodies of Alejandra Ruiz, 15, and her boyfriend Samuel
Martinez, 16.
All were dead from blood loss, and autopsies revealed that dog bites
were to blame. Mexico City prosecutors said that at least 10 dogs were
involved in each attack, according to the Associated Press.
More than 100 officers searched the park and rounded up all the dogs
they found. By Monday, they had 25 -- 10 males, eight females, and seven
puppies.
After a newspaper published photos of the dogs -- a collection of
skinny strays of various types -- an online campaign erupted,
maintaining the dogs' innocence. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera, bowing to
pressure -- a large part coming from Twitter -- said authorities would
not immediately euthanize the dogs, as had been speculated. Experts are
testing the dogs' hair for traces of blood, as well as the contents of
their stomachs, to make sure they have the right dogs.
"We're not taking any decision. The dogs are in a shelter and we have to check on the health," he said at a press conference.
You can see a photo of the dogs here.
The mayor also said he was launching new spay and neuter programs for
the stray dogs who wander the city, as well as sending 25 mobile
surgical units into neighborhoods to offer free spay and neuter
surgeries.
Antemio Maya, president of the Street Dog Protection Association,
says there are between 1.2 million and 3 million dogs in the city. He
says many owners simply let their pets wander the city during the day,
and that they treat dogs as "disposable," things to be bought for
Christmas then left in a park when the responsibility becomes too
great.
"A lot of people get tired of their dogs and they simply throw them on the streets," he said, according to the AP. "This is going to create a terrible hate for street dogs, and that's going to lead to even more abuse."
He also disputed the police's version of the events.
"It's not the behaviour of street dogs to kill humans," he said. "The authorities trapped Beagles, Maltese, Poodles; can you imagine how long it would take for them to kill a person?"
The Mexico City public safety secretary, Jesus Rodriguez, maintains
that dogs killed the people, saying that the people were not killed
elsewhere and then their bodies dumped in the park, as some have
theorized. He also said some of the bite wounds were inflicted when the
victims were alive, which points to an attack. Which dogs did the
attacking, however, has yet to be determined.
