Pet owners ID cats, dogs that were massacred

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An investigation into the mass killing of dogs and cats seized from Puerto Rican housing projects and thrown off a bridge has confirmed the involvement of an animal control company whose owner has denied any role in the massacre, police said Friday.

Several people from the town of Barceloneta identified their dogs from among animals found dead or injured beneath the highway bridge, Sgt. Wilbert Miranda told The Associated Press.

Miranda also said local veterinarians confirmed some of the animals were from the housing projects, where local authorities hired the contractor, Animal Control Services, to pick up dogs and cats to enforce a rule banning them from the projects.

“Below the bridge they found animals .... that were taken in Barceloneta,” Miranda said in a telephone interview.

Julio Diaz, the owner of Animal Control Solutions, denied his workers disposed of the dogs and cats by hurling them off the bridge.

The animal cruelty investigation is ongoing and no arrests been made, Miranda said. Asked if the evidence points to Animal Control Solutions, he said: “That’s the way it is, I can assure you.”

Dozens of dead and wounded dogs and cats were found last week beneath the bridge a day after a mass roundup of pets and strays at the housing complexes.

Pet owners say they were told their dogs and cats were to be taken by the company — which has animal control contracts throughout Puerto Rico — to a shelter.