The Civil Police of Santa Catarina confirmed a change in the course of the investigation into the death of the dog Orelha, which occurred in Florianópolis. One of the four teenagers who were treated as suspects was no longer investigated for the attacks on the animal. According to authorities, the young man’s family confirmed that he was not in the Praia Brava neighborhood on the day of the crime. Three teenagers remain under investigation.
The investigators also went back on the relationship between the death of the dog Orelha and the attempted drowning of the dog Caramelo, who was allegedly attacked by another group.
Orelha was attacked on January 4th and found in agony the following day.
The veterinarian who treated the dog ruled out any possibility of an accident, confirming that the injuries were the result of physical violence. The official investigation was opened on January 16, following complaints from residents.
Police analyze almost a thousand hours of security camera recordings, although, to date, no records have captured the act of aggression. The Public Prosecutor’s Office monitors the process and relies on new evidence to solve the crime.
In an interview with Paula Valdez on Tarde Band News, the Attorney General of Santa Catarina, Vanessa Wendhausen Cavallazzi, argued that teenagers’ cell phones can provide fundamental clues for investigations.
“They are cell phones seized from the teenagers and their content can reveal conversations, can reveal photos and can even reveal the geolocation of these teenagers during the period in which it is estimated that the ear was attacked.
And then we can compare any images from cameras with geolocation and perhaps find a point of convergence between the teenagers and the dog Orelha. All of this is absolutely essential for the investigation since so far there is no witness in person and we do not have a video recorded by the doorman.”
In a recent statement, the doorman of the condominium where the crime allegedly occurred denied having any video showing the attacks on the animal. He clarified that the photographs he took and shared in a message group in the building were intended to identify teenagers involved in acts of depredation in the condominium, and not the moment of the attack on the dog.
The police indicted three relatives of those investigated for coercion during the process. They are accused of pressuring a doorman who claimed not to have witnessed the attacks. Furthermore, investigators clarified that there is no relationship between Orelha’s death and the attempted drowning of another dog, Caramelo, who was allegedly attacked by a different group.
“I can guarantee that there is no barrier placed against our prosecutors and that they will go with all the intensity, with all the strength and apparatus that the Public Ministry has to prove what actually happened in the Orelha case.
We are in the same boat, we want to be hand in hand with the social movements that seek accountability for this case.”
National Mobilization
Last Sunday, protesters gathered in several cities across the country to demand justice for Orelha. In São Paulo, the concentration took place on Avenida Paulista. The group protested in the Masp gap. They called for those involved in the case to be held accountable.
The suspects are three teenagers, who cannot be held responsible for mistreatment, only for an infraction. They are subject to socio-educational measures, ranging from warning and provision of services to hospitalization for a maximum of three years.
