On May 28, 2023, in San Pablo Tecalco, Tecámac, Estado de México, a street
security camera captured the shocking moment when a man decided to pick up a
dog and throw it into a pot of boiling lard, resulting in terrible
consequences for the animal.
The horrific footage.
It was 11:55 a.m. on Sunday, May 28, 2023, when a security camera outside a
butcher shop in the State of Mexico captured footage of a man wearing a blue
T-shirt, black shorts, and white sneakers entering the shop. Shortly
afterward, he exited the shop, grabbed a dog that was on the sidewalk by the
scruff of its neck, and threw it into a pot of boiling lard outside the
store. The perpetrator quickly got into his vehicle and fled the scene,
while the business owner came out to try to help the dog.
Virality.
After the incident came to light, the local animal shelter “Peludos
Desamparados” (“Stray Furry Friends”) shared the video on its social media accounts, causing it to
go viral. The outrage among Mexicans was so great that some social media
users offered rewards to help find the perpetrator, while others tagged
state and federal agencies to urge them to investigate the incident.
Research.
Reconstruction of the events.
Following reports of the shocking incident, Óscar Ávila, the owner of the
“Chuky” butcher shop, gave his account of the events, stating that a man who
was intoxicated or possibly under the influence of drugs, armed with a gun
and a knife, arrived early on Sunday, May 28, and threatened to force him to
close his business within 30 minutes or else the man would return and kill
him.
According to his account, for the past five months, two little dogs, one
white with black spots and one brown, had been coming to his butcher shop
looking for food, and Óscar would throw them some scraps, not knowing where
they came from or if they had an owner. Oscar says that as soon as the man
left the store, he told him that to show him he wasn’t joking, he picked up
the poor animal and threw it into the pot.
After hearing the dog’s heart-wrenching cries, Óscar went out onto the
sidewalk, where he shut off the gas line to try to get the dog out of the
pot. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do so until the lard had cooled enough for
him to put his hands in. By then, it was already too late. The liquid, at
over 200 degrees Celsius, quickly burned the dog, which let out constant
screams of pain that never stopped. The little dog suffered severe burns,
and finding a veterinarian at noon on a Sunday proved to be an impossible
task. Despite fighting for its life, the dog did not survive.
Arrest of the perpetrator.
On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, the suspect, Sergio Morales, a “former police
officer” who had been on active duty since 2019 at the time of the crime,
was arrested at a residence in Mexico City. The State Attorney General’s
Office reported on May 31 that it had obtained a second arrest warrant
against the alleged assailant on charges of attempted murder for threatening
the shopkeeper.
The agency specified that the alleged perpetrator of the dog attack was
transferred to Agency 50 of the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office,
pending a determination of his legal status. During his hearing, Sergio said
he was remorseful. However, the judge ruled that he did not deserve leniency
because he posed a danger to animals and society, after which Sergio broke
down in tears.
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Murdered?
On social media, primarily TikTok, some accounts reported that Sergio
Morales was found dead in his cell, hanged and burned with oil. Allegedly,
prison guards found him hanging and with burns covering 60 percent of his
body, raising the possibility of either suicide or homicide.
However, the relevant authorities never issued any public statements
confirming his death; it was merely fake news.
Conviction.
On October 9, 2023, Sergio Morales was found guilty of animal cruelty and
sentenced to 5 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison. In addition, he was
ordered to pay a fine of $38,902 pesos and $28,217 pesos to the State of
Mexico’s Animal Protection Fund (around $3,900 USD). The man was incarcerated at the Chiconautla
Prison in Ecatepec de Morelos.
Scooby.
During the investigation, it was also discovered that the little dog, named
“Benito” after the horrific incident, had an owner and a name: Scooby.
Roberto Martínez, 11 years old and Scooby’s owner, stated:
“I heard a scream and saw it happen; there was nothing I could do to save
my dog. I went back home to tell my mom.”
Interviewed outside her home in the San Pablo neighborhood, very close to
the butcher shop, Roberto’s mother, Lucía Martínez, called for justice to be
served for the crime against the little dog, who was “innocent.”
“I ask that justice be fully served. It’s good that they caught him. I
pray to God that justice be fully served for an innocent little dog who
wasn’t to blame.”
Repercussions.
The incident garnered so much attention that during the Morning Press
Conference, the president in office at the time, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the head of the
Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, assured
the public that the crime would not go unpunished.
“It is an act of infinite cruelty to treat an animal this way, and that
is not right,”
said Icela Rodríguez from the National Palace, after the agency announced
that the perpetrator had already been identified.
The Mexican president stated that incidents like this should not occur in
the country and that
“we must work to raise awareness about love for our fellow human beings
and love for animals. We must take care of animals.”
Security camera footage.
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