Puerto Rico: Man accused of throwing 80 pets off bridge

The owner of a company accused of throwing pets off a bridge in Puerto Rico denied responsibility for the deaths but promised to pay for a mass burial, a court heard.

Some 80 pets were seized from a public housing block in October and were allegedly thrown off a nearby bridge, with only half a dozen surviving the 50-foot fall.

Last month, a judge charged Julio Diaz, the owner of Animal Control Solutions, and two of his employees with animal cruelty.

Jose Manuel Rivera, a resident in the northern town of Bayamon who discovered the grisly scene, testified in the preliminary hearing yesterday that Diaz said he would pay for a bulldozer to create a mass grave for the animals.

“Julio Diaz told me, ’Get a machine, whatever it costs, I will pay for it because I want to be done with this. ... I am not responsible for this, but I will pay’,” Mr Rivera said.

Mr Rivera said he never saw anyone hurling the pets from the bridge next to his house.

He said he discovered the animals after hearing them yelp and tried to rescue them, including a dog that hung from a tree branch.

The dog in the tree “tried to stand up and couldn’t because she couldn’t move her two little front legs,” he said.

The hearing will resume in early February, when several more witnesses are expected to testify.

Diaz’s attorney said outside the courtroom that there is no direct evidence incriminating his client or the two employees, and that he would present evidence later to disprove the allegations.

Once the hearing ends, a judge will determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial.