• Events Two arrested for the death and mistreatment of dogs in an illegal kennel in El Álamo

The Civil Guard has arrested a businessman, Luis Miguel VF, who sacrificed dogs and cats to sell their blood to veterinary clinics and hospitals on a Humanes farm.

In the operation, 240 animals have been released,

mainly greyhounds, rabbits and cats that were in terrible conditions

.

In addition, another person, of Moroccan nationality, who was in charge of the facilities, has been arrested.

The arrested businessman received animals delivered both by owners who did not want to continue caring for them and by protectors who delegated their charge.

Luis Miguel appeared as the sole administrator of the mercantile

Centro de Transfusiones Veterinario SL

and as president of the Association of Animal Hematology and Homeopathy, in charge of certifying the hematology laboratories and blood banks of the associates.

According to the researchers, he lacked any type of titration and to obtain larger amounts of fluid,

he punctured the animals directly on the left ventricle of the heart

, causing them to die from hypovolemic shock.

The Environmental Prosecutor's Office of Móstoles-Fuenlabrada has filed a complaint against the businessman for "painful and cruel" practices against animals.

The corpses were frozen and later cremated in a crematorium in Yuncos (Toledo), where, between the months of April and May 2022, the Prosecutor's Office has counted 60 bodies whose death was due to blood extraction: 27 dogs, 29 cats, three rabbits and a ferret.

At the Humanes estate, agents from the Arroyomolinos Civil Guard Post found

the laboratory where the extractions were carried out

, where numerous bags of plasma ready for distribution were seized.

The purpose of these practices, according to the Public Ministry, was to sell the blood mainly to veterinary clinics in the Community of Madrid, at a price of 80 euros for 400 milliliters in the case of dogs, and 85 euros for 40 milliliters if it was of cat blood.

As the demand was increasing, highlights the Prosecutor's Office,

it came to offer its hemotherapy services to all of Spain and to other European countries such as Italy, Belgium, France and Portugal.

During the investigation, it was confirmed that the defendant appeared as the sole administrator of the commercial Veterinary Transfusion Center that was inaugurated in 2006 with the aim of producing red blood cell and plasma concentrates that until then could only be made in the Blood Bank, but limited to the possibility of doing it with whole blood and under the tutelage of the Community of Madrid.

The businessman also promoted the center on a web page and presented himself as a benchmark in the marketing of animal blood, although

there is no registration, authorization or licenses in the name of said company, so for years he carried out his activity "in the most absolute secrecy".

A universal donor breed

To obtain the blood of the animals and then market it, the defendant had the facilities in Humanes where he houses numerous animals.

Above all, he had young greyhounds, being a universal donor breed, which he repeatedly subdued

through the use of prohibited methods.

This type of practice caused the animals, as stated in the complaint, "unnecessary suffering and suffering", since in practice it means applying euthanasia "without any reason framed in the current legislation".

The Prosecutor's Office maintains that between the months of April and May 2022, it counted 60 animals that, after autopsies and expert reports, concluded that

their death was not caused by a natural biological disease process,

"but by being exsanguinated".

Regarding euthanasia drugs, the Prosecutor's Office warns that they can only be dispensed in pharmacies and livestock groups previously authorized and supervised by their supplying pharmacies, and purchased by veterinarians who request it.

In addition, remember that veterinary medicine is a regulated profession and that in order to practice it, it is necessary to be in possession of the Official Degree or Degree in Veterinary Medicine, an academic recognition that was not in the possession of the defendant, and to belong to the corresponding Professional Association.

Finally, it emphasizes that the competence to euthanize animals, animal identification and rabies vaccination are veterinary reserves, "

being the only competent to carry them out the veterinarians".

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