Environmental organizations have condemned the mass killing of stray dogs on the beaches of Margarita Island, Venezuela’s top tourist destination, ordered by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of canine diseases. The corpses of 17 poisoned dogs were found on the popular beach La Caracola in late September.

"Several of the poisoned dogs had vaccination and sterilization certificates. We are calling for an investigation against those responsible, and demanding that the local authorities enforce the law that protects domestic animals,” Josefina Narváez, president of the Margarita Island Animal Protection Foundation, told Tierramérica.

This law, in force since January 2010, "establishes that municipalities must have animal rescue centers and shelters – a requirement than almost no Venezuelan local government fulfills – and that in the event an animal needs to be put down, it must be done in the proper facilities through appropriate techniques," Diego Díaz, executive director of the organization Vitalis, told Tierramérica.