Nero, a dog who was walking with his relative and two other people in the Sierra de Baza Natural Park, died a few minutes later as a result of the gunshot.

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Once again we learn of a case of indiscriminate violence by hunters. On 9 March, three hikers were walking with Nerón, a six-year-old dog, in the Sierra de Baza Natural Park in Granada. Suddenly, they heard “a loud explosion”. Nerón, who was about ten metres ahead and belonged to one of the walkers, began to scream as he collapsed among the rocks on the steep terrain. “I thought it had bitten an abandoned grenade,” explains its relative.

The animal had been shot in the back with no exit wound. One of the hikers, a doctor by profession, identified signs of imminent death and advised his companion to say goodbye: “He’s going to die, hold him. Hold him tight. Within seconds, the dog would completely lose consciousness and die.

A few minutes later, a hunter crouched in the undergrowth approached the three men dressed in camouflage: “I thought it was a stray dog,” he justified.

As far as we have learned, this person, who had a hunting licence and was wearing camouflage clothing that was allegedly prohibited, did not show any remorse or shock at what had happened. Far from it, he repeatedly refused to dismantle the weapon.

As far as we know from witness statements, his attitude was very arrogant. He acknowledged the intentional shooting and said that he did not want the dog to take away the partridges he was hunting.

He refuses to give his details and disposes of the body.
This person refused to give his details and showed his intention to leave the place, but this was prevented by the three men who were already calling SEPRONA to take note of what had happened and open a file.

It was not until the arrival of the agents that his identification could be obtained, and it turned out that he was a veteran hunter with a valid licence who, presumably, had already executed other dogs and was known to walkers and regulars in the area. “He is arrogant and is very confident with his shotgun”, they say.

However, the man’s lack of interest after having taken the life of a dog did not prevent him from allegedly taking advantage of the minutes in which the three hikers were looking for SEPRONA, which was already on its way to the area, to dispose of the animal’s body and try to remove the blood trail from the ground. Allegedly, another hunter who was in the area would have helped him to dump the carcass or hide it and then make it disappear. After several raids in search of it, the body has still not been found.

Fortunately, Nero’s owner had taken photographs of the body in view of the presumed perpetrator’s intention to escape, and SEPRONA can confirm the existence of these blood traces and, therefore, the veracity of the facts.

A few seconds before the unpleasant event, the hikers had recorded a video showing part of their route in the company of the animal, which was walking among them.

Episodes like this have been a constant occurrence in recent years. “The hunters understand that the countryside is their property and they can do and undo in it; if you don’t want to risk being shot or a loved one being shot, you can’t step on it. They practically make you understand that if something happens to you, it’s your own recklessness,” explains our spokesperson, Yolanda Morales.

We will appear as an interested party in the judicial process that will be developed after the animal’s owner’s complaint. We will demand justice for Nero!