Update September 12, 2008: A judge in Puerto Rico has found the owner, Julio Diaz, and two employees, Montano Rivera and Roberto Rodriguez, of Animal Control Solutions "not guilty" in the tragic massacre in which dozens of pets were taken from homes and thrown over a bridge. 

The trio were charged with animal cruelty but had always maintained that the local council seized the animals, not Animal Control Solutions. They waived their right to a jury trial, and after weeks of testimony, Superior Court Judge Miguel Fabre agreed the prosecution failed to meet their burden of proof that these three were the perpetrators.

For more on this, read ALC's earlier reports below.                                

Sign the petition below and add your voice in a call for justice for the beloved pets that were so brutally killed.

Update December 5, 2007:  The owner of Puerto Rican-based Animal Control Solutions, Julio Diaz, has continued to insist there is no evidence he and his employees seized pets from a housing project and threw them over the bridge. A judge disagrees and has charged Diaz, his company and two  employees, Lucas Montano Rivera, 18, and Robert  Rodriguez Ceballo, 28 with three counts of animal cruelty.  The defendants face maximum prison terms of nine years. They were released after posting bonds.  

For more on this horrific crime, read Animal Law Coalition's report below.  

The company as well as the municipality of Barceloneta, its mayor, Sol Luis Fonanes, and other city officials face a $22.5 million lawsuit filed on behalf of families whose animals were seized and killed in the October massacre.

The city officials have always maintained they understood Animal Control Solutions was rounding up pets in the housing project but did not know about the plan to drug the animals and hurl them from a 50 foot bridge.  

There is no word on the investigation purportedly being conducted by the public housing administration. Puerto Rican authorities have said they will investigate the slaughter as well as the murders of thousands of unwanted cats and dogs revealed in an earlier AP report.

Original Report: Barceloneta sits on the north coast of Puerto Rico, this non-incorporated U.S. territory with self-governing Commonwealth status.  This little noticed city became the focus of a tragedy that has reverberated around the world. A Puerto Rican-based private animal control company, Animal Control Solutions, allegedly decided to throw dozens of pets and stray animals to their deaths from a 15 meter bridge. 

The city contracted with the company to rid local housing projects of all animals. Instead of taking the animals to a shelter as promised, the contractor is alleged to have sent them plunging 50 feet from the bridge to painful, horrific deaths.

Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez claims the city has fired the company and is looking into the possibility of a lawsuit. It would be interesting to know what the city paid for this "animal control solution" and why it was so important to rid the housing projects of all pets. In fact, Puerto Rico's housing department regulations allow some pets in housing projects. A spokesperson for the department claims an investigation is under way.

Many of the animals were rounded up from loving homes and then thrown to horrific, painful deaths.  Witnesses reported pet owners and other residents of the housing projects cried and pleaded for the workers not to take their pets. Some animals were apparently injected with some type of drug as they were seized.   

The owner of Puerto Rico Animal Control Solutions, Julio Diaz, claims there is no proof the dead animals were gathered up by his employees. We'll see. The company was paid 30 pounds for each animal taken from the housing project.   Police Chief Pedro Toledo has said anyone found to be responsible for the deaths could face up to 3 years in prison and would be charged with cruelty for each dead or injured animal.

Click here to sign a petition to protest this massacre. The petition with the signatures will be presented to Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila.  Petition to Protest Animal Massacre: A Call for Justice