Two hundred cats cared for in stray colonies on the southern bank of the Tagus have gone missing. Those who cared for them believe they were kidnapped after the population in some cases was reduced to less than half. The suspects operate at night, “always in groups of four, in a van with foreign plates and they don’t speak Portuguese.” They catch them with a net, says a guardian from Barreiro, whose account is corroborated by other testimonies. They ask not to be named because they believe it is an “organized crime network.” The stolen cats can be used as “bait for illegal animal fights,” used in rituals or tortured. “They catch us to hurt them, because on the so-called dark web [dark web]there are those who pay for this type of video,” explains Margarida Saldanha, in charge of the União Zoófila shelter in Lisbon. The hypothesis that food is served in restaurants is more remote – ASAE does not keep records of complaints, but guarantees “monitoring of possible reports”. “We know that cases have occurred in Almada, Sesimbra, Barreiro, Moita and Sines,” says the Chamber of Seixal, which has no complaints.
Barreiro, who has more than 100 colonies, says he has received complaints. “We were concerned and informed the PSP, which is investigating,” says councillor Carlos Guerreiro. The GNR confirmed the complaint this month.
Check it all out tonight, at ‘Investigation by KM‘, V CMTV.