A man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, last Tuesday, in the central Mexican state of Querétaro for the murder of Athos and Tango, the rescue and emotional assistance dogs that were part of the Red Cross emergency corps. Mexicana, and for which a criminal trial on animal abuse was reached for the first time in the country’s history.
A judge sentenced 10 years and 6 months in prison to the person responsible for having poisoned the rescue dogs on June 13th, 2021, after having provided him with poisoned sausages and causing the death of the pair of animals; Balam, son of Athos, also suffered a serious affectation due to adulterated food.
Cruelty to animals
There are 3 crimes for which Benjamín «N» was found guilty: aggravated crime against animals -one for the death of Athos and another for the death of Tango, as well as the aggression against Balam- for the injuries caused; and animal cruelty for the poison used.
For this, in addition to jail, Benjamín “N” will have to pay 2.3 million pesos (just over US$ 115,000) to repair the damage, coupled with a fine amounting to 115,000 pesos (around US$ 5,700) . “We achieved a prison sentence of 10 years and 6 months and an exemplary reparation for the damage, according to the value of the puppies, the training and all the care they had, and that were provided by their manager”, The lawyer Mónica Huerta, legal adviser to Edgar Martínez, trainer and owner of Athos and Tango, declared to the media.
A historical sentence
Considering the criterion that the judge contemplated for the determination of the sanction, the accused was granted the maximum sentence contemplated within the crime contest. Although this does not mean that the person responsible will immediately go to jail, since on August 30 he will have to appear again in court session, where the sentence will be read. “Once the sentence is read, on August 30, he has 10 business days to appeal (…) he would have to exhaust his resources, the law grants him certain resources, such as the appeal and subsequent. If the ruling on that appeal is not favorable, a direct protection would come”, added Huerta.
The lawyer explained that the judge considered that the degree of affectation due to the loss of both dogs was high, since not only the handler of the dogs was damaged, but also society, due to the work they carried out, for which she considered that It is an irreparable loss that “neither the penalty nor the economic amount is sufficient to repair the damage in this particular case”.
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