30 Jul, 2023 @ 15:45
1 min read

Madrid man faces 18 months in jail after killing partner’s dog in order to ‘do her harm’ 

'PARTY ANIMALS' as teenagers drink alcohol and trash a holiday home on Spain's Costa Blanca

A MADRID man is facing an 18-month jail term after he killed his partner’s dog in order to ‘do her harm’. He is being charged under a new animal-cruelty law that was recently passed by the Socialist-led national government, and that increases the penalties for such cases.

According to the public prosecutor in the case, the suspect abused the female dog on at least three occasions. Spanish daily El Pais reports that the third beating was so severe that the two-year-old animal did not survive it. 

The man, who has been identified by his initials R. C. P. and is currently 26 years old, was living with his partner and the dog, named Bella, between April and July 2020, when the country was mired in the coronavirus health emergency. 

The prosecutor details one of the beatings in April 2020, striking the animal on its head with an ‘undetermined object’. In June, another assault left Bella with swelling to her body, while it was on July 1 that the beating was so severe it cost the animal its life. 

The 18-month jail term that the prosecutor is seeking includes the aggravating circumstance of gender violence, given that his objective was to cause damage to his partner. 

The man is also facing fines of €300 to cover the autopsy of the animal and €3,000 for the psychological damage caused. 

The new animal cruelty law doubled the maximum jail time for killing an animal, from 12 to 24 months. Aggravating circumstances can see the eventual sentence rise to 36 months.

These include whether or not the assailant is the owner of the animal, if there is any personal gain from the cruelty or if there is an element of gender violence, as was allegedly the case here.

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Simon Hunter

Simon Hunter has been living in Madrid since the year 2000 and has worked as a journalist and translator practically since he arrived. For 16 years he was at the English Edition of Spanish daily EL PAÍS, editing the site from 2014 to 2022, and is currently one of the Spain reporters at The Times. He is also a voice actor, and can be heard telling passengers to "mind the gap" on Spain's AVLO high-speed trains.

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