Reward offered for exposing cruelty

PETA Offers $1,000 Reward to Bring Animal Abandoners, Abusers to
Justice

Group Challenges Practice of Dumping, Abusing Dogs on Streets

For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2008

Contact:
Kristin DeJournett 757-622-7382

Puerto Rico--Reports indicate that as many as 100,000 stray dogs wander the streets of Puerto Rico--many of them starving and sick--and abuse of these animals is rampant. Although laws exist to prohibit the abandonment and cruel treatment of animals and at least seven animal shelters are available to receive unwanted animals, abandoned and abused animals are such a common sight on the island that PETA regularly receives complaints from concerned tourists and residents on the island.

PETA is offering as much as $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who abandons or otherwise abuses animals in Puerto Rico. PETA is also sending an urgent letter to Governor Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá, Puerto Rico Police Department Superintendent Pedro Toledo, and island mayors urging them to vigorously enforce existing animal protection laws and publicly post notices that detail penalties for abandonment and refer people to local animal shelters.

Please consider this information--it might be the only way to bring violators to justice.

"People who abandon dogs and cats in the streets are sentencing these animals to a long, drawn-out death by starvation, disease, injury, or cruelty," says PETA Manager Martin Mersereau. "Mistreating animals is a crime in Puerto Rico, and anyone caught abusing or abandoning animals must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Anyone with information about animals who have been abandoned or abused should contact the Puerto Rico Police Department at 787-793-1234 or their local police department.

PETA's letter to Puerto Rican officials is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETAEnEspanol.com or HelpingAnimals.com.

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