Trio not guilty of pet massacre
September 10th, 2008 Posted in Reptile Pets“The only thing I have done is 
protect animals,” said Mr Diaz, who had faced nine years in prison if found guilty.
Two of his employees, Montano Rivera and Roberto Rodriguez Cembalo, were also cleared, after a trial lasting several weeks.
Superior Court Judge Miguel Fabre said in his ruling that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the three accused had thrown the pets from the bridge.
The defendants had waived their right to a jury trial, believing that impartial jurors would be impossible to find, in a case which attracted widespread revulsion a year ago.
The local council had employed Animal Control Solutions to remove the pets, because it understood that they were banned from the housing blocks.
But Mr Diaz said the animals found dead under the bridge had been removed by the local council itself, and he did not know who had killed them.
Tags: animal control, animals, lear, loc, Pet, pets