Public Ministry investigates death of 16 cats “with violence” in Vila Franca de Xira kennel
The Vila Franca de Xira City Council filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) following the death of 16 cats inside the Official Collection Center (CRO), the Lisbon district authority reported this Wednesday.
The death of the animals, denounced by the group Animal Intervention and Rescue – IRA, it occurred on Saturday night and was detected the following day, the Vila Franca de Xira City Council said in a statement. The municipality says that the event is the result of a “criminal act”.
According to the newspaper “Público”, a GNR source refers that the hypothesis of poisoning or human intervention has been “ruled out” in the death of the animals, which may have involved “extreme violence”. “The door [do gatil] it was open. Whether it was closed badly, whether someone opened it on purpose or whether even the dogs managed to open it is what we will find out”, the same source tells the newspaper.
The City Council also says that, following this incident, “there is no record of animals disappearing from the CRO”.
Quoted in a statement, the president of Vila Franca de Xira City Council, Fernando Paulo Ferreira, states that “everyone is shocked” by this incident and expresses the hope that the authorities can find those responsible.
Lusa contacted a source from the municipality, who only said that the case is being investigated by the MP and that the bodies of the 16 cats were sent for necropsy (autopsy), at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Lisbon, in order to determine the reasons for the death. .
