Two retired police dogs have been banned from an animal charity event in Catalonia because they worked for the Spanish police force.
The pets and their new owners were due to appear at the event to encourage adoption of such dogs, but their invitation was rescinded once it emerged that they had been part of the national police’s canine units.
The adoption agency has now slammed the organisers, voicing their dismay at the dogs being banned because they worked for the Spanish – not the Catalan – police.
Condemned: Heroes de 4 Patas posted a picture of one of the dogs on its Facebook page, left, slamming the decision to ban them, pictured right is a dog up for adoption through the agency
Catalan aversion towards the national police is at an all-time high, following the extreme violence carried out by Spanish forces during the independence referendum last Sunday.
Catalonia has it’s own police force – Mossos d’Esquadra – but as the Spanish government had ruled the referendum illegal, dozens of national police officers were drafted in.
Some 900 people were injured on polling day when police fired rubber bullets and charged at crowds with truncheons to disrupt the vote.
The incident involving the re-homed police dogs took place over the weekend, at an undisclosed location in Catalonia.
The two ex-police dogs had been invited to appear at the event to raise awareness of the work of a charity which finds new homes for retired police canines.
Banned: The pets and their new owners were due to appear at the event at an unknown location in Catalonia to encourage adoption of retired police dogs
Separate forces: Catalan’s regional mossos d’esquadra police officers stand between protesters and the national police headquarters in Barcelona during a protest against violence by the national police during last Sunday’s independence referendum
Heroes de 4 Patas – meaning ‘Heroes on four legs’ – later took to Facebook to condemn the organisers of the event.
‘Something very sad happened yesterday. One of our four-legged heroes was invited to an event in Catalonia, along with his new owner, accompanied by another adopter and another four-legged heroine to make our work known.
‘They have now been banned by the organization for being former canine agents of the national police.’
Added to the Facebook post was a message ‘from the dog’, stating: ‘I do not understand why some people don’t like my presence, it may be because I am a former retired policeman, because I am Galician [Spanish] and Catalan, or because of the uniform of my former colleague who taught me everything I know?
‘I do not understand what’s happening in Catalonia, I’m just a dog.’