Natalia Iocco
07/08/2020 - 7:00
- Clarín.com
- Police
Martha opened the door like every morning. She let "Mondongo" come out to play and after a while went back to look for her. He called him once, then twice. When she did not answer, she approached the front, thinking that she was sleeping. What she saw ended up being the news that shocked Pergamino these days: someone shot her dog and killed her.
Martha Ofelia Orlandi is 79 years old and was the secretary of the National School of Parchment, before she changed her name and became Secondary No. 5. In addition to "Mondongo", she adopted "Blanca", "Morenita", "Negro "and" Chicharrón ". A long time ago, she says, "a deep respect for animals" led her to rescue and care for them.
"I have been in these things with my sister for more than 30 years," he explains in dialogue with Clarín . It does not have social networks, nor WhatsApp. She did not know what it was that something went viral before the prosecutor appeared at her house, in the Centennial neighborhood.
But just as on June 16 in the morning his story began to go viral. " I adopted Mondongo more than a year ago . He was a dog that walked in the street. As I spontaneously felt the affection, I entered him into my house. He accompanied me every day to run errands, he was permanently with me. I took him out every days because he played with other animals, with his friends. He controlled him, of course, and when he called him, he came back, "explains Martha in detail.
That morning his dog did not answer calls.
Martha speaks slowly, verbose and very formal. She tells precisely what happened to her until the anguish cuts through the air. "When I found him dead, I called the security camera technician who looked for the videos for me. He checked and you see a person with a gun, who takes a shooting position, and shoots the dogs. The two who were with him run away and Mondongo fell downcast . "
The bullet that was extracted in an autopsy to "Mondongo", the dog who was shot dead by a former police officer, in Pergamino.
The reaction of this retired woman was spontaneous: she went to her neighbor's house to ask her why she had done something like this. The response, he says, was a threat. " I got out of here, I'm going to kill you and all your dogs, " he yelled at her. Then he insisted: " I'm going to hit you with a punch, " the man replied.
This is how it appears in the statement of the woman who joined the judicial file, along with a letter to the judges in which she wrote in perfect italics: " No one who is innocent denies their truth. For Mondongo and all animals, I ask for justice " .
The outrage was such that Martha told what had happened to an animal rescue friend and the case quickly spread on social media and local media. The videos and the woman's story went viral so much and so fast that a prosecutor's office acted ex officio.
The woman who had adopted "Mondongo", with the prosecutor Francisco Furnari, in Pergamino.
Sheet one of the file is a note in the newspaper Primera Plana , from Pergamino.
"We learned about the crime through the news portals. And on June 19, we started an ex officio case. Once we did, we contacted the woman who provided us with the images from the security cameras at her home. We asked the raids and we found weapons and other elements of interest for the cause, " prosecutor Francisco Furnari explains to Clarín .
The letter that the woman who had adopted "Mondongo, in Pergamino, presented in Justice.
The accused is Roberto Edmundo García (57), a retired policeman who ended up accused, charged and prosecuted for violation of Law 14,346 (mistreatment and acts of cruelty against animals), threats and illegal possession of weapons of war.
Thus, "Mondongo" would become a key test for the crime that was attributed to García. Then, from the Zoonosis area of the Municipality they collaborated to unearth it and perform an autopsy that allowed the projectile to be found.
The shooter, from a roof. From there he killed the dog "Mondongo", in Pergamino.
In almost the same way that they would have proceeded with a human, the Municipality's Veterinary Director, Fernanda Lauzzo, carried out the operation. After performing an x-ray of the body, they were able to detect the presence of a projectile that they finally removed.
Now, the experts will compare that bullet, which would coincide in caliber with one of those found in the house of García, who is in a relationship with a woman who still belongs to the Buenos Aires Police.
The man has already been investigated, although he declined to testify.
"We take the most serious figure of what is contemplated in animal abuse, which is the 3rd paragraph that talks about killing for the simple perversion of killing. Still, I think we owe ourselves a discussion about this law that was passed in 1954. The penalty established for that crime it is from 15 days to a year in prison . I think that a debate should be opened on this issue and legislate accordingly if it is considered that the sentence should be significant, "said Furnari, who proposes that Mondongo's death be a "before and after".
Thus, the highest penalty established by the Penal Code to sanction García's actions is linked to the lack of registration of the weapons in his possession. Also because of threats. In addition, according to Martha's account, it is not the first time that he attacks her because her neighbor, he warned, has already "shown her his weapon" to intimidate her.
For Martha, the reaction of her neighbors was as forceful as unexpected. "I miss Mondongo, his presence, his accompaniment, but all that pain is mitigated by the love and support of the people. I am very grateful to everyone, to the prosecutor and to those who have helped me. I think that this has past, which is so painful, has to leave a record for the protection of animals. "
EMJ
