A fine of 3,000 euros

They are not exactly like agents under the orders Gil Grisson or HORATIO ‘H’ CAINEbut Alcalá de Henares has its own CSI, a body of experts that is responsible for traveling the city with latex gloves, isopos and test tubes. In the scenarios of the crime in which they work, yes, there are no corpses or blood, but cacas. Literally. Their work is to examine them, take DNA samples and facilitate that the weight of the law falls on the owners of uncivic pets.

His work does not end murderers between bars, but in large fines.

An “carelessness” that comes out expensive. That dogs are the best friend of man does not mean that men are always at their height. Sometimes he arrives with a walk in the park to verify it: although the municipal ordinances often force the owners of the dogs to collect their cacas, there are those who are a blind eye and disregard them. A few years ago in Alcalá de Henares (200,700 neighbors) They decided to avoid it in a peculiar way: with the help of DNA and a ‘CSI’.

At the beginning of 2020 the plenary approved modify your ordinance to include a “census Through ‘DNA’ “genetic footprint on which all the dogs living in the municipality are included. The objective? Have a more precise idea of the total number of pets, identify abandoned or stolen dogs, have more information in cases of bites and … locate the ‘owners’ of abandoned cacas on sidewalks and parks, which can derive in fines of fines Between 300 and 3,000 euros.

And how do they do it? The process explained in detail this weekend The Spanish newspaper in A report in which he speaks of “the detectives ‘Cazacacas'” by Alcalá de Henares. The system is actually quite simple and relies on two pillars. The first is the veterinary consultations, where saliva samples of the dogs are taken that is then analyzed in a specialized laboratory.

When the process is completed, they end up registered in the census and the animal happens to have a “DNA identification card” and a sheet with a QR for the pet. The second leg of the system are Special controls made from time to time by the City Council to ‘hunt’ to offenders.

From parks to the laboratory. That is when the game enters the ‘canine csi’. A specialized technician and the Local Police are responsible for looking for abandoned bugs in the street and taking samples with a baston and then sending them to a laboratory in Xàtiva, Valencia. There they have a database with more than 150,000 animals from all over the country that allows them to collate the sample. If there is Match Find out who is his ‘owner’ and (most importantly) the owner of his owner, who will face a mild infraction with fines of Between 300 and 3,000 euros.

Have you put fines? Yes. The ordinance that forces dogs to censor DNA was activated just two years ago and since then the City Council has processed a few fines. In February 2024, 221 collected samples already resulted in 75 files Sanctioners Last year they were counted in total 206 fines. In 97 cases for abandoned bacons. In the remaining 109 the reason was a more common infraction: not censor the animal.

At the beginning of the year the canine municipal register through DNA accounted for 9,099 dogsa figure that now is around 9,500, according to The data that manages The newspaper. The newspaper also states that since the measure was launched by the Complutense City Council collected more than 500 samples and opened 245 sanctioning files, 120 for not collecting the cacas and 125 for breaching the obligation to register the animal. In both cases the fine is the same: 300 to 3,000 euros.

Beyond Alcalá de Henares. Alcalá de Henares is not the only one who has resorted to DNA so that its pedestrians stop being dog -cacas in the parks. Other municipalities such as Mislata, Malaga, Collado Villalba, Cornellà They have also set the possibilities of the genetic census to hunt the owners of uncivic dogs. Moreover, in December Pipper on Tour calculated that in Spain there are 81 municipalities that register the DNA of macotas to keep its streets clean.

Images | Wikipedia and Jack Lucas Smith (UNSPLASH), M. hairstyle (Flickr)

Via | EPE

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