Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Guardia Civil agents have busted a network of slaughterhouses without licenses in Avila and the surrounding areas.
In Madrid and Fuenlabrada, 10 Asian restaurants received meat from animals mistreated. Of these four have now been closed.
The products were sold either to diners on-site or via home delivery advertised through online platforms.
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The Guardia’s appropriately named ‘Operation Pox’ has resulted in five arrests.
A further 12 people have been investigated for crimes against the public health. These include animal abuse and document forgery. They are also being investigated for membership in a criminal group, money laundering, and joining a criminal gang.
Around 350 animals have been put down due to their poor condition.
Fake papers were used to claim that animals had been killed legally and with care.
San Fernando de Henares is a slaughterhouse east of Madrid that had a large enclosure of goats and sheep, some of which had been killed alongside animal heads and rats.
Jose Carlos Martinez, the head of Guardia’s Seprona Environmental Unit, said that it is always shocking to see this kind of clandestine operation where animals are kept in poor conditions.
The animals lived next to piles of dead bodies.
“Those who were still alive showed signs of malnutrition, as well as rashes that were indicative of sheep or goat pox.” he said.
Several of those under investigation collected meat in secret slaughterhouses, and then distributed it in various areas of Madrid without any control or traceability.
The Guardia Civil discovered a criminal network among the gang with each member playing a specific part.
