The carcasses of eight dogs were found in advanced stages of decomposition in a disused ETAR (water treatment station) near Pêra over the weekend.
Local people who had been searching for two of their pets for over a month were told of a “very bad smell” coming from the ETAR and went to investigate.
“I was horrified,” owner Veneziana Carvalho told Correio da Manhã. “My heart sank when I saw the bodies.”
Two were indeed of her dogs, and another was the dog of Hélder Mimoso, also a local resident from Armação de Pêra. Theories centre of the dogs having been poisoned first and then thrown into the stagnant waters.
A similar case was reported three years ago, Veneziana Carvalho told CM, but then there were as many as 20 dogs found floating in the ETAR.
The GNR are now investigating.
