Puerto Rican Animal Control Firm Accused of Hurling Pets Off Bridge

An internet campaign has been launched against animal control workers in Puerto Rico who rounded up pets and allegedly threw them to their deaths from a bridge.

Thousands have signed an online petition demanding jail sentences for those responsible for last week's unorthodox culling of about 80 cats and dogs in the US Caribbean territory.

Contract workers hired by the municipality seized about 50 animals from three housing projects in the town of Barceloneta to enforce a no-pet policy. Owners' pleas and children's tears were ignored. Some 30 strays were also rounded up.

Witnesses told local TV the workers injected the animals, saying they were being sedated for the drive to the shelter. Instead, said the witnesses, the animals were dropped from a 15-meter (50ft) bridge in the nearby town of Vega Baja.

"Many were already dead when they threw them, but others were alive," a witness, Jose Manuel Rivera, told the Associated Press. "Some climbed to the highway even though they were all battered, but about 50 animals remained there, dead."

A contractor, Animal Control Solution, was paid £30 for every animal recovered. Dumping them from a bridge was not part of the deal, said the municipality. Julio Diaz, owner of the company, denied responsibility and said there was no proof the dead animals were the same ones his employees collected.

Police are investigating and said those responsible could face cruelty charges that carry prison terms of up to three years.

A website, thepetitionsite.com, has enabled more than 8,000 people from around the world to demand that Puerto Rico's governor, Anibal Acevedo-Vilá, authorize an independent investigation. A copy of the petition will be delivered to him on Sunday. "Governor, the world is watching," it said.