2023-07-11 03:04:00
The residents of the Estación Flores neighborhood, in the southwest of the city of Córdoba, do not come out of the stupor, the indignation and the pain caused by the death of Trinidad, the 15-year-old adolescent attacked by two bulldog breed dogs.
Since Monday, the residents have not moved from Bucharest street, where the tragedy occurred last Sunday at noon, in support of the family. They demanded justice for this death that they maintain might have been avoided. The impression that overwhelms them is that it might happen to anyone: “it was like a bomb regarding to explode”, some repeated this Monday. There were indications: the dogs had already attacked and seven complaints were filed, according to what they said.
Maximiliano Tafuro, the neighbor who stopped the attack of the bulldogs and killed them with a knife protecting his family. (Ramiro Pereyra/The Voice)
The one who killed them at home
One of the neighbors, Maximiliano Tafuro (28), was the one who stopped the attack of the dogs in a way that he would never have thought he would: by killing them. He was at his house, along with his wife and his 10-month-old baby, ready to share a Sunday roast with the rest of the family. At that moment he heard the dogs barking. He went out into the yard and saw the bulldogs attacking his pets. He tried to separate them, but it was impossible. “I grabbed one and lifted it up, and I wouldn’t let go of my dog,” he told this newspaper.
Around the corner, Trinidad was already bleeding to death on the floor, but the young man still hadn’t realized the horror. At that time, he only thought regarding how to save his family from the fury of the bulldogs.
Tafuro, visibly shocked, said he never imagined killing an animal, let alone that way. “We love animals,” he clarified.
And he recounted: “The owners had many complaints and every time those dogs came out they made a disaster. Once they killed a dog, they kept looking because they were raised and trained to kill pigs, and they also made them fight with pumas,” he said. “I know because I went hunting with them,” he said.
All the neighbors who heard Trinidad’s heartbreaking screams tried to defend her. But those who came to his aid were injured: a man received bites on the face; and another, on the arm.
Maximiliano told La Voz that it was the dogs or his family. (Photo: Ramiro Pereyra)
“I had to do it”
Maximiliano said that the dogs entered the living room of his house and one of them chased him around the table. Seeing this situation, he went to the kitchen, took a knife and stabbed him to death: “I had to do it because it was his life or that of my family,” he argued.
“At that moment it was the only thing that crossed my mind,” he narrated. He killed one inside the house and the other outside. “Both dogs were blind with rage,” he remarked.
While he was fighting with the bulldogs, he did not know what was happening around his house: “When everything was over, they told me that Trinidad was bleeding to death. I didn’t know she had been attacked,” she added.
For the young man, seeing that scene was like “a horror movie.” And he interpreted: “The dogs are not to blame but the owners who raise them in this way.”
The owner
In front of the house of the owners of the bulldogs there are marks of the attack and inside, only silence. The same silence that they took before the neighbors, who affirm that they did not come out to apologize or help the adolescent.
After the attack and when Trinidad was taken to the hospital for treatment, the owners collected the dead animals and hid, according to several residents. Only the next day did the owner make a public apology.
“I apologize to the family, it was not my intention, it was not the intention of this house,” he said from behind the gate of his home before the cameras of El Doce. When asked how the animals escaped, he excused himself by saying that he was traveling.
“I can’t say anything because I wasn’t there. I’ll talk at another time, ”he said, before learning that Judicial Unit 6 had already charged him with culpable homicide and culpable injuries.
The family demands justice
Through tears from the pain of loss, Trinidad’s aunt asked for justice for the death of her niece and that the truth of what happened be known.
“The owners or communicated with anyone. By the very fact of knowing that something happened to his animals, he should have shown his face, ”he questioned. In addition, she recounted: “My niece used to go for a walk, to take out two dogs that we have at home. The two dogs came back, but she didn’t. She left around 12 and I went to look for her at 13.30 ″.
At the same time, he reported that when he looked for her he might not find her, while they told him that two dogs had attacked a person. “They didn’t know who she was because she was badly bitten. They bit two arteries, that caused her to lose a lot of blood and part of her face, they had to reconstruct her ear, her head as well. And she mightn’t take it, ”she added heartbroken.
“I can not believe it. She was 15 years old and I no longer have her with me. My soul hurts because I can’t do anything,” added the woman.
Neighbors of the Estación Flores neighborhood protest the death of the teenager attacked by bulldogs. (Pedro Castillo / The Voice)
Other attacks, other fears
In the midst of the request for justice, there was a discussion on Monday between some neighbors and the relatives of the dog owners, in which the Police intervened.
The neighbors said that a few houses from the place where the bulldogs attacked, there is another dog of the same breed that has already killed other animals. But the dog’s owners explained that “it doesn’t do anything.”
But the neighbors insist, especially following this tragic case, that it is a latent problem. Maximiliano even said that a cousin was bitten by that other Bulldog dog and that she also filed a complaint.
“I want to leave it settled so that it is known, in case another event like this happens,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the same Sunday, but in the El Diquecito neighborhood –also in the Cordovan capital– a 12-year-old boy was injured by a dog bite and had to be assisted at a health center.
What the regulations say for potentially dangerous dogs
Ordinance No. 13,321 by which the Municipal Registry of Potentially Dangerous Dogs (RMPPP) was created under the scope of the Biocórdoba Municipal Entity, was regulated in May and there is still ignorance on the part of the population.
According to Gastón Citati, head of domestic fauna of the BioCórdoba Municipal Entity, the registry of potentially dangerous animals “does not exceed 6%.”
The main objective of the regulation is to register potentially dangerous dogs, recording the personal data of the holder, the identifying characteristics of the animal and any other characteristic requested by the enforcement authority.
Among the potentially dangerous dogs, established by the regulations, are the Argentine bulldog, pit bull terrier, Rottweiler and Doberman.
Other central points of the ordinance is that the place where the animal is housed must have security measures (fences, walls, warning signs, among others) and must be driven on a leash and/or material pretal resistant.
In the case of breaching the rule, the owner will be fined from 50 to 250 Municipal Economic Units (UEM).
For his part, councilman Alfredo Sapp, author of the project, said that there was no public dissemination program as established by the ordinance.
“People don’t know it exists. Not just the owners of the dogs but the neighbors who can potentially be attacked,” she stated.
In addition, he stressed that the neighbors know where to make complaints when these types of events occur. “You have to work on the issue of dissemination,” she urged.
And he took as a reference the case of the owner of a bulldog who killed a child in La Plata, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime of simple homicide with eventual intent: “I hope that the justice of Córdoba lives up to the events and this man is sentenced for the crime of simple homicide, not for the culpable manslaughter”.
How to register
In turn, Citati stated that from the “Animal Footprint” application, animals are registered voluntarily, and those who have potentially dangerous animals must do so.
And it revealed that these bulldogs that caused the tragedy were not registered nor were the complaints from the neighbors who can make them through the same application.
“Yes, there were complaints in ordinary justice.” At the same time, he expressed: “What I understand is that the house meets the requirements established by the norm, beyond the fact that they escaped. What does not work is the responsibility of the fork”.
In addition, he said that the definitive solution to the problem with these animals is to transfer criminal responsibility to the owner: “Until that criminal responsibility is transferred to the owner, it will not change. If you crash and kill with your car, you are responsible, and in this case, it is the same”.
In turn, Citati pointed out that a campaign was carried out to disseminate the registry and there are many domestic animals registered with the application. And on July 15 they will be in Parque Sarmiento and from there they will inform how to download the application and how it works.
In Animal Footprint, in addition to registering potentially dangerous animals, complaints can also be made for homes that do not comply with security measures. In addition, there is the line: 0800 888 0404 that receives complaints during the week.
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