Why is nothing done about stray cat poisonings?

Lately I never stop receiving ugly news about street cats being poisoned. For this reason it seems necessary to me to explain the seriousness of these offences.

Yes, you read that right, the act of intentionally poisoning cats implies committing at least two criminal offences contained in articles 336 and 337 of the penal code, as well as a possible risk to public safety and to public health.

But why is nothing done about cases of poisoning stray cats?

Honestly, if you would like to know my own theory, which is based on my 15 years’ experience as a lawyer and as a teacher specialised in training personnel from public authorities in animal law for almost the last decade, then keep reading:

“Nothing is done by the relevant authorities about cases of stray cats being poisoned because they are not really aware of the seriousness of cases like these, and above all because they do not know how to correctly interpret the content of articles 336 and 337 of the penal code.”

Article 336 establishes the use of poison as an offence and article 337 concerns the offence of animal abuse.

Poisoning a single street cat implies committing both of these offences and a person who intentionally commits these offences could go to prison.

Moreover, for each animal poisoned the punishment is increased and it is even possible to be convicted of these two offences for each animal that has been poisoned.

Poisoning stray cats implies committing more than one offence classified as less serious, not one minor offence or one less serious offence, but at least two less serious offences. We are talking about criminal behaviour which must not go unpunished and requires thorough investigation.

Lack of interest in protecting stray cats

In Spain nowadays there is a lack of interest in the welfare and protection of stray cats that make up feline colonies (also known as community cats or feral cats).

Proof of this is the fact that the majority of the more than 8,000 town halls in Spain have no protocols for how to act quickly and urgently in response to cases of stray cat colony poisonings.

At the animal protection institute (IPA), www.institutodeproteccionanimal.com, we have investigated cases of this kind, thanks to the collaboration of feline colony managers who have told us about and documented their cases.

The typical response of, ‘We don’t know who it was, so nothing can be done’, is incorrect.

The fact that whoever did it is unknown does not imply that officers cannot or should not investigate these incidents, because it is their duty to investigate crimes like these.

This is why excuses like the one above are unacceptable.

Now I will give an example to validate my previous comment, by applying what is known in the world of lawyers as legal logic.

“When a person is found dead in their home or in the street with signs of having been poisoned or violence, and the murderer is not present when the crime is discovered, is the case investigated or not?”

What would a citizen think if they reported to the authorities that a relative had been poisoned and the reply was: ‘Because you don’t know who did it, nothing can be done’?

So, why are the majority of stray cat poisonings not investigated?

If you have read this article, I hope it will be useful, especially for managers of feline colonies. And if you do not manage feline colonies I hope that it has helped you to understand the gravity of criminal offences of this kind, which result in the deaths of innocent animals and the suffering of the people who look after them and defend them.

In the next article I will tell you about what a member of the public can do in a case of stray cats being poisoned.