Jaén Criminal Court No. 2 has sentenced the owners of a puppy to three months in prison for keeping it chained for at least 15 days on a farm in Alcalá la Real (Jaén) without providing it with food or water. This happened in mid-December, when the animal was unable to even seek shelter in the kennel due to the shortness of the chain.
According to a report by Europa Press, the incidents date back to December 2022, when the Guardia Civil discovered the German Boxer-Shepherd puppy on a rustic farm in the El Cascante area, appearing “extremely thin and hungry” and showing obvious signs of malnutrition and dehydration.
Guardia Civil officers initially provided the animal, surrounded by excrement, with food and water “urgently,” and determined that its life was “in some danger” if the poor care continued.
The puppy had been brought to this farm by the two defendants and tied around its neck with a chain tied to a rope with a knot that restricted its movement to 50 centimeters, preventing it from moving.
The property was surrounded by a one-and-a-half-meter-high metal fence. The verdict states that the two defendants left the animal there despite knowing “how vital care and the provision of food and water were for the puppy’s survival.”
It further states that the owners acted “with absolute contempt” for the animal’s life and repeatedly failed to fulfill their legal obligations to protect companion animals.
“They failed to provide it with the necessary food and water for its survival, failed to provide it with the care it required, and continuously chained it in unsanitary, inadequate conditions,” the verdict states.
In addition, the sentence disqualifies each of the defendants from practicing any profession or business related to animals and their keeping for one year.
The sentence, which has already become final and includes payment of costs, was imposed as part of a compliance procedure after the two defendants acknowledged the facts of the case and accepted the sentence proposed by the public prosecutor.
The court also decided to suspend the sentence for two years, with the warning that the suspension will be revoked if a crime is committed within that period.
