Life4dogs
Magazine
Hall of Shame – In memory of the victims
They are images that take your breath away: On 8. August 2025, the Guardia Civil discovered a scene of horror on a farm in the southwest Spanish town of Azuaga (province of Badajoz). 32 dogs, emaciated to the bone, starved and dehydrated, some still chained, others locked in cages, surrounded by the corpses of their companions. For two months, their owner – Antonio Sánchez, known locally by the nickname “El Patilla” – had simply abandoned them to their fate. No water! No food! No chance.
The dogs, mostly hunting dogs of the Podenco breed, died in agony. Some survived so long that they began to gnaw on the corpses of the others – a gruesome proof of the final desperation of these innocent animals. Anyone who reads this and does not feel anger has lost all compassion.
Antonio Sánchez, mechanic and hobby hunter, is well known in the region under his nickname “El Patilla.” A man who kept hunting dogs for decades, used them as tools – and finally treated them like garbage. For two months he did not check on them. Two months in which the animals whined, cried, suffered – and finally died.
But what will happen to this man now? In theory, Spanish law provides up to two years in prison per dead dog – more than 60 years in total. In practice, however, it is more likely that Antonio Sánchez will only receive a fine. Because this is how Spain still works when it comes to animals: although, according to the new animal protection law, they must be treated as living and sentient beings, many people in Spain still consider them as “objects.”
Even more shocking is the silence in the local community. Many neighbors apparently knew that “El Patilla” had not cared for his dogs since June. But hardly anyone dared to speak out – out of fear of retaliation by the perpetrator or other consequences. A system of silence, carried by corruption, outdated traditions, and the despicable hunting lobby. In Spain, it is mainly hunting dogs – Galgos and Podencos – that are among the most abused animals. They are exploited, discarded, hanged, or – as in this case – abandoned to die of hunger.
Spain celebrated its “big new animal welfare law” in 2023. But hunting dogs and working dogs were – under pressure from the hunting lobby – simply excluded. Because of this, and because of ineffective controls, such horror scenarios are daily reality in Spain. Cases like this are not limited to Badajoz. Every year, with the start of the hunting season in Tenerife, countless dogs are once again used as disposable tools – many of them ending up abandoned, mistreated, or dead. Politics looks the other way, the perpetrators know it and go unpunished – and the victims die without compassion from the government. PACMA, the Spanish animal rights party, rightly called the case a “national disgrace.” But without political will, even these voices remain nothing but an echo in the wind.
32 innocent lives, wiped out by a single man. Antonio Sánchez, alias “El Patilla,” stands as a symbol for all those who see animals as mere tools and dispose of them when they are no longer useful. This man does not only belong in court; he belongs in our “Hall of Shame” of Spanish animal cruelty, so that no one ever forgets what this inhuman being has done.
But equally, a society that stays silent out of fear belongs here too, as well as a political system that continues to abandon both dogs and cats. As long as this continues, cases like the one in Badajoz will not be exceptions – but tragic everyday reality.
Sources & Links:
“Official report by the Guardia Civil”
“Read more about the new animal welfare Law in Spain”
“BOE – Animal Welfare Law (BOE-A-2023-7936)”
“All information and datas about the hunting season 2025”
