A heartbroken mayor in Andalucia has vowed to find the ‘sick individuals’ who ‘poisoned his dog’ over a cancelled bullfighting event.
The Guardia Civil has launched an investigation after the German shepherd belonging to Juan Salvador Dominguez, mayor of Paterna del Campo (Huelva), was found dead outside his in-laws’ home.
Dominguez, who announced the incident on social media earlier this week, said he believes the attack was linked to anger over the suspension of the town’s traditional bull-running festival.
He branded those responsible as ‘scoundrels’ and ‘sick individuals.’
The mayor confirmed that officers from Seprona (the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil), along with emergency services, had collected the dog’s body to carry out an autopsy and identify the poison used.
He vowed to ‘exhaust every avenue’ to bring those responsible to justice.
Speaking to reporters in Huelva, Dominguez said: ‘I raised him from when he was a puppy, he was like my brother.’
He added that the act was deeply shocking for a town ‘that is very quiet, civilised and peaceful,’ and said it was ‘too much of a coincidence’ that the poisoning occurred just a day after the bull-running event was cancelled.
Although he insisted he had ‘no enemies’ in the town, he admitted the cancellation had generated ‘a lot of tension,’ despite it not being the direct responsibility of the council.
Since revealing the poisoning, the mayor has received widespread support from across the political spectrum.
Former Hinojos mayor Miguel Angel Curiel (PSOE) wrote: ‘Poisoning a dog, attacking a family home or sowing fear can never be part of public life.
‘Politics is about debate, disagreement and dialogue, never violence or cruelty.’
The local PSOE branches echoed this, expressing solidarity with Dominguez and his family while denouncing ‘unscrupulous cowards’ who confuse politics with ‘hatred and death.’
In La Zarza-Perrunal, the PSOE warned the incident was ‘a result of the ultra-polarised politics being stoked from above, trickling down into our streets and our homes – a grim reminder of a very dark period in our history that must never be repeated.’
The controversy stems from the last-minute suspension of the traditional ‘suelta de vaquillas’, a bull-running event central to the town’s fiestas.
On August 21, Paterna del Campo’s council announced it was unable to stage the festival despite preparations being complete, blaming the Junta de Andalucia for refusing a permit due to missing paperwork.
The council insisted the documents had in fact been submitted and expressed its ‘deep disappointment.’
Domínguez said staging the event without authorisation would have been ‘reckless’ and ‘impossible.’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
