Carlos Guajardo placeholder image
06/19/2021 5:12 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 06/19/2021 5:12 PM
In a groundbreaking ruling, a criminal judge called pet owners
"their parents
.
"
And the pet, a dog over a year old Pitbull mix, as "the daughter."
In addition, the magistrate recognized that they form a
"multispecies family"
due to the integration of the dog (and three other pets) to the daily family life.
The ruling has to do with the death of the dog "Tita", in an event that occurred in March 2020 when a police officer
shot
her
dead
with his regulation weapon while on a tour to control that the strict quarantine imposed at that time by the pandemic was fulfilled and occurred in the Playa Unión de Rawson resort, in the province of Chubut.
The dog belonged to the couple formed by Marianella Castillo and Maximiliano Muñoz, who have two children.
The ruling was recently known and had a
great impact
especially on social networks.
Police Saavedra on the day of the ruling.
The dog "Tita" was considered a member of a "multispecies family".
Photo File
In addition, the criminal judge Gustavo Daniel Castro recognized “Tita” as
“a non-human person”
based on a 2015 ruling related to the orangutan “Sandra”, who was recognized by Judge Elena Liberatori as “a sentient being”.
Castro sentenced the police officer Elías Saavedra, the author of the shooting, to one year in suspended prison and two years of disqualification from his position as a police officer.
In statements made to
Clarín
, Saavedra assured that "he is not a murderer" and that he shot the dog "to defend herself from an attack."
He also said that he asked the family for forgiveness.
In his ruling, Judge Castro remarked that “to clarify a question, which although it is not decisive for the resolution of the case, it was proven that Maximiliano Muñoz,
father of 'Tita'
, was the one who caused the damage to the rear window of the patrolman".
And in another paragraph she stated that “after being sacrificed, 'Tita'
was handed over to her parents in a plastic bag
and, according to Marianella Castillo, who, knowing that it could be useful, decided to keep her body in the home's freezer until that it be summoned by Justice ”.
Marianella Castillo and her lawyer.
The woman kept the body of her dog in the freezer until the court summons.
The sentence also stated that "with the regulation weapon, Saavedra killed" Tita ", the
non-human daughter
of the couple formed by Marianella Castillo and Maximiliano Muñoz".
The term “non-human” was used by Castro, giving as an example the case of the orangutan “Sandra”, who by a 2015 sentence was considered this way by Judge Liberatori, who granted her fundamental rights such as “life and freedom as well such as the right not to affect her physically or psychologically ”.
"Sandra", who was also considered as "a sentient being" by the magistrate, had lived 33 years in the Buenos Aires zoo.
The ruling determined that he should be found a place that guarantees his well-being.
She was transferred to the Great Ape Center in Florida, United States.
Facsimile.
Part of the judge's ruling regarding the event that occurred in Playa Unión last year.
Castro considered that “
today the animal is no longer a thing
, it is a sentient being with the right to have its life respected.
That is why we cannot affirm so lightly that the interest and physical integrity of a person
is above the interest of life of an animal
”.
And he also said: “The death of 'Tita' has caused
an irreparable loss
in his family
.
The testimonies of Castillo and Muñoz showed the integration of "'Tita' in family life, becoming a multispecies family."
Chubut. Correspondent
AS
Look also
He saved a boy and killed a dog: the story of the policeman who went from hero to condemned
A police officer was sentenced to one year in prison for killing a dog with his service weapon
