FREE!
north EDITION
Your English Newspaper
Issue 623
23 - 29 Sept 2011
Horrors of dog pound by Jack Troughton ANIMAL LOVERS have made 31 complaints alleging animals are being kept in horrific conditions at a local authority backed shelter on the Costa Blanca. Volunteer workers past and present, people who have previously adopted dogs and cats, and two animal associations have denounced the Sociedad Protectora de Animales y Platas de Benidorm. Allegations of animal cruelty were lodged with SEPRONA last month, the wing of the Guardia Civil which polices the environment and animal welfare. It is understood the shelter is supported by Benidorm Town Hall to the tune of 33,000€, while Villajoyosa provides a further 15,000€. RESCUE A princely figure
Royal body double OPENING CHARITY events are a royal’s duty but things were not quite what they seemed when Prince Charles snipped the ribbon for the LAPS annual Fun Day. A Prince of Wales look-a-like performed the ceremony, following in his mother’s footsteps after HRH Queen (another stand-in) declared the fete open 12 months ago. Read more on page 7
The shelter is home to some 300 dogs, around 40 cats, and the odd donkey and a horse said to “cry” for food. In past years it has also rescued monkeys and other more exotic animals. RTN was shown photographs of animals covered in ticks, pools of diarrhoea and blood, and animals alleged to be sick and neglected. And there were also pic-
tures of the food given to dogs and cats – left-overs from the resort’s hotels, including chicken carcasses and pieces of ham, and chips, with extras such as pieces of serviette and ketchup sachets. A source close to the police investigation revealed it was thought there was enough evidence to prosecute and copies of statements made to SEPRONA have been handed to Benidorm Town Hall. Matters came to a head in July when volunteers working at the pound discovered the remains of a dead body covered in flies – a full time worker putting it in a plastic bag and dumping it at the rear of the building. BLOOD RTN was told by protesters who asked not to be identified. “He didn’t even pick up the bedding. There was blood all over the place in the cage and other puppies were licking it – when we asked why it was not cleaned, he said he had other priorities. “We later found an open trench at the rear of the pound – there were lots of plastic bags, animal excrement, piles of old food and hundreds of maggots.” Continued on page 3