The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service, Sernapesca, filed a complaint with the Castro Prosecutor’s Office for the crime of animal abuse and cruelty following the case of two seven-gill sharks that were stoned to death in Chiloéon the Lakes region.
The images show two sharks caught with a net, which reach the shore alive and are stoned. Later, a group of subjects take pictures with the dead animals and spread the images on social networks.
Given what happened, the regional director of sernapescaBranny Montecinos, indicated that with The complaint seeks to find the authors and they answer for this “reprehensible act.”
Similarly, it indicated that the records of what happened show that it was not a fishing activity, therefore, They are acts constituting crimes, specifically animal abuse and cruelty.
Sanctions risked by the perpetrators of animal abuse
In the legal action, Sernapesca invokes the Animal Protection Law, as well as the General Fishing and Aquaculture Law, for the crime of capture and mistreatment of a hydrobiological species.
The regional authority explained that the sanctions associated with this type of crime are contemplated in Law 20,380 and Article 291 bis of the Penal Code, which range from minor prison in its minimum to medium degree and fines ranging from 2 to 30 UTM, that is, from 117 thousand to 1 million 763 thousand pesos.
#LosLagos We filed a complaint for animal abuse with the regional Prosecutor’s Office following learning of the images where a person hits a couple of sharks that had been captured with a large stone.https://t.co/HI5K3AU7L3 pic.twitter.com/bDAZpIkqac
— National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (@sernapesca) January 18, 2023