08202014Wed
Last updateMon, 18 Aug 2014 11am
La Nueva Posada

Outrage as alleged dog killer walks free

Despite strict new laws governing cruelty to animals, a judge has released a man neighbors say killed a dog by throwing it from the second floor window of a house in Guadalajara’s Colonia Paseos del Sol.

Eduardo Velez, 38, was arrested after a neighbor posted a video of the incident on YouTube.

In the video, a man can be seen throwing a Pitbull from an upstairs window, impaling it on the spiked railing of the entrance gate.  The dog was taken to a nearby veterinarian but subsequently died.

State police detained Velez on August 7, a day after the incident occurred.

A criminal court judge released  Velez, ruling that no warrant had been issued for his arrest and thus there was no basis for his detention.  Officials from the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office, however, said a woman had filed a complaint about the incident and that witnesses had come forward to verify that Velez was indeed the guilty party.

According to police, Velez admitted throwing the dog from the window because it had become very aggressive.  He said it was not his intention to harm the animal.   
Under new state laws passed earlier this year, anyone convicted of deliberately killing an animal can be sent to prison for as long as three years. This does not apply to bullfights or cockfights.

State legislator Gilardo Guerrero, who was instrumental in drawing up the new laws, said he was astonished by the judge’s decision and would be filing an official complaint.