Case of 93 animals killed in fire of Santo Tirso can change “paradigma”

” AI think it is impossible for the court to remain indifferent to what happened six years ago,” said Inês Sousa Real, referring to the court decision scheduled for September.

The leader of the PAN spoke at the closing of a conference organized by the party in Porto to mark the six years of the fire that killed nearly a hundred animals, in which several animal protection associations were present.

“I, as a jurist and not only as a MP and PAN spokesperson, am confident that in a process of this complexity, with the proof that was produced, with the scrutiny that was made of the statements – which were all very dangerous and serious – in September we will have to have a conviction,” he said.

Inês Sousa Real also defended the creation of a specific State Secretariat for animal welfare, considering that there is insufficient “a guardianship that is compromised, such as that of Agriculture”, and that there is “a completely collisioned interest: economic interests with the interests of animal protection and welfare”.

On the margins of the conference, in statements to Lusa, Sousa Real considered that “the minimum of justice” for the dead animals would be the application of an effective prison sentence and ancillary sanctions that prohibit the defendants from having animals again.

The case dates back to 18 July 2020, when 93 animals died in a fire in Santo Tirso, and in question are over 200 crimes of mistreatment of pets, abandonment and abuse of power.

After the case was filed in 2022 by the prosecutor, the court decided in 2024 to bring the case to trial after the PAN and the Midas Zoophile Association had requested opening of instruction.

The animals had signs and symptoms unrelated to fire, such as severe or extreme thinness, anemia, malnutrition and dehydration.

Between 17 and 19 July 2020, a fire from Valongo consumed a substantial part of the forest in the mountains of Agrela, reaching two illegal shelters.

Faced with advancing the flames into the mountains, early on July 18, hundreds of people tried to reach the “Cantinho das 4 Patas” to assist the animals, a situation, according to the accusation, prevented by the head of local GNR and the owners, who refused to give access to the illegal shelter.

The civil protection councilwoman was also accused of not reacting to alerts. On the same day, it was known that a second shelter, in the same saw, the “Abrigo de Paredes”, was also struck by the flames.

In the prosecution order, the owners of the shelter “Cantinho das 4 patas” each appear accused of 79 crimes of mistreatment of pet animals, while the councilwoman was charged with 32 crimes and the person responsible for the “Abrigo de Paredes” of the practice of a crime.

The local veterinarian at the time, who ended up being fired by the city council and was the subject of a lawsuit by the Veterinarian Order, is charged with 80 crimes of mistreatment of pets.