One of the stray dogs captured in recent sweeps of a park in Mexico City
A feral dog pack in Mexico City is suspected of killing five people over the last month.
Mexican authorities began sweeping a park in Mexico City to capture feral dogs this week, after a series of attacks which have left five people dead. In what is thought to have been the first attack, a 15 year old girl was found outside the park, with fatal injuries from dog bites, in the middle of December. Then, on the 29th December, the bodies of a mother and her young son where found. Just a week later, the bodies of teenage couple were found, with bites from around 10 different animals.
The local prosecutor’s office has confirmed each of the five deaths and is currently investigating whether or not they are connected. Commenting on the death of 15 year old Ana Gabriela Nataret Ramirez, whose mother brought her case to the public’s attention in an interview with the Milenio Television station on Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office said:
“An autopsy revealed that the victim had multiple injuries and puncture wounds on both arms. After the events of recent days, the Mexico City district attorney’s office broadened the investigation and confirmed the possibility of a new case of homicide resulting from wounds caused by dogs.”
Animal control officers swept the park for three straight days in response to the deaths, and have captured at least 36 animals. Each of the captured animals has been tested for traces of human DNA to determine whether they may have been involved in the attacks.
But despite the five deaths, a great deal of public opinion seems to be on the side of the dogs. Some of victim’s family members have been skeptical over the official story that their relatives where killed by dogs, saying that their injuries were too severe to have been purely the result of dog bites. And when authorities released photographs of the captured dogs, a group of activists started an online campaign to protest the animals innocence. This campaign has proven to be popular, drawing support from many who were already unhappy about the tens of thousands of stray dogs who killed each year,
