Diaz disposes of evidence in pet massacre case

Diaz disposes of evidence in pet massacre case Posted: Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 07:01 PM

By LAURA CANDELAS

SAN JUAN (AP) – The physical evidence that would have helped to clarify some of the questions regarding the dead dogs and cats found underneath a bridge in Vega Baja no longer exists. Animal Control Solution (ACS) Owner Julio Díaz –who has reiterated the dogs picked up in Barceloneta were in freezers at his company and not underneath a bridge in Vega Baja- said Thursday those animals were cremated because they were decomposing. “They had been a week there [in the refrigerators] and they were starting to smell. The refrigerators turn off at night and they [the cadavers] thaw… The smell was unbearable,” he said. However, he did not want to identify the place where the animals were cremated “to not continue ruining reputations.” “I am going to provide certification stating they were cremated,” he said. According to Díaz, he was visited Thursday morning by two Criminal Investigation Corps agents who allegedly inspected the animals’ cadavers. He was not interviewed by the agents, because he was not there. He denied the animals his agency picked up from the public housing projects in Barceloneta were the same ones found underneath the bridge, as it was reported by several residents of those housing complexes, who assured they recognized their pets among the dozens of cadavers piled up underneath the structure. The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) does not have any evidence indicating the Animal Control Solution Co. is licensed to handle animal cadavers or biomedical waste, which the businessman admitted. “We now realized we need it [the license,] I imagine we will submit it and we will be fined… It is the first time we see we need that kind of license,” he said. Díaz also admitted he was not licensed to administer narcotics, needed when carrying out animal euthanasia, but he said he has a contract with the Mariolga Veterinarian Clinic in Caguas to handle that. His company only uses a sedative. “We do not need [the narcotics license] for our operation,” he said and explained that when they capture animals, they give them acepromazina, “a sedative that is not controlled and that we can use because it is to calm” the pets. To handle narcotics, Mental Health and Adiction Services Adminstration and Drug Enforcement Administration licenses are needed. Díaz said he usually disposes of animals in sanitary landfills, which he said is permitted by law and is common. However, he did not want to say which landfills he has used. Meanwhile, Carla Capalli, an activist in favor of animal protection, said Thursday she has not adopted a position in the defense of Julio Díaz, who is currently being investigated along with the Barceloneta municipality for the murder of 80 dogs and cats found under a bridge in Vega Baja. On Thursday she said her position is neutral and she is not defending Díaz. “I am not defending him, I believe he must prove he is innocent… and if he is not, I am the first one to make sure he will pay for the consequences of his actions,” she said. “I do not want people to think I am in his favor,” she said, while reassuring she was still affected by the massacre.