SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE – The story of the 4 dogs trapped on La Palma by lava but rescued by a mysterious ‘A-team’ prior to their official rescue takes a new turn. The A-team could have tampered with the video images. Therefore, it could be ‘fake’ footage.
According to Leales, there may also be abuse. The animal protection organisation is demanding more evidence the dogs are still alive and in good health. Leales originated in the Canary Islands and is now committed to animal welfare in thirty different countries.
The organisation was the first to sound the alarm about the four podenco’s enclosed by lava flows. And they organised help so the dogs could be supplied with food and water via drones. Later, the Galician drone company Aerocamaras joined in to free the dogs from their isolated shelter. However, on the day of the scheduled rescue, the dogs mysteriously disappeared.
Dogs rescued by mysterious A-team
A few days earlier, the dogs appeared to have been rescued by people who call themselves ‘the A-team’. A video of the team showed a banner that read “Good luck La Palma, the dogs are fine”. Since then, however, no one knows how the dogs were rescued, where they are housed, and whether they are OK.
Leales suspects video of rescued dogs is ‘fake’
Several Spanish media outlets, including La Vanguardia, are now writing that the video and photos of the rescued dogs would have been recorded earlier, according to Leales.org. There is no date on the video and according to the platform it is about the same dogs, but the images were recorded before there was a volcanic eruption on La Palma.
Therefore, the animal organisation is demanding more evidence from the individuals behind the A-team that the dogs are also currently okay and in good health. According to Leales, the dogs in the Aerocamaras drone footage were thinner because they had little food for too long. However, in the images from the A-team, the dogs have gained weight. Something that is not possible in a few days.
Possible abuse of hunting dogs
In addition to the suspicion that the date of the images has been tampered with, the platform also suspects that the dogs have been mistreated. “The dogs are scared and stand with their tails between their legs.
Animal lovers don’t kidnap animals and then make an anonymous, undated video of them claiming they are okay.” In the worst-case scenario, according to Leales, the dogs are out of order and these people want to pat themselves on the back and make animal activists think they are safe.
Therefore, the most important thing, according to Leales, is to get confirmation the dogs are in good health. For this reason, the platform requires proof from a veterinarian who can confirm this. They also want to find the owner of the dogs to ask him or her why they were left behind in the first place.
