15 Animal Cruelty Cases Filed in Quintana Roo

Cancún, Mexico — A total of 15 investigation files have been opened so far this year for cases of animal cruelty. The Directorate of Animal Welfare and Protection in Benito Juárez is coordinating with state agencies, including the Secretary of Ecology and Environment (SEMA), to ensure the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) investigates these cases so they do not go unpunished.

Some of the documented situations in Cancún range from the abandonment of dogs in public streets, such as an incident in Supermanzana 237 where a dog died after being abandoned, to serious physical aggression like a machete attack in Region 222 that prompted authorities to intervene.

Yamili Góngora Manrique, director of Animal Welfare and Protection in the municipality, emphasized that the 15 investigations are the result of the work of the Specialized Roundtable on this issue.

"We have 15 case files with the attorney general's office that have been judicialized, for which the process is being carried out, and we channel neighborhood issues to Civic Courts, conflicts that exist between neighbors over their pets," she detailed.

Regarding reports of animal abuse and abandonment, approximately 1,277 have been received so far in 2025. It has been identified that about 60 percent of the cases correspond to conflicts between neighbors that have been referred to civic courts.

"Of those more than 1,200 reports, we have been able to address about 1,100, and we have identified that the vast majority are neighborhood problems, such as a dog barking too much or causing a nuisance among residents," she highlighted.

She explained that according to the General Wildlife Law, animal abuse is any human action, act, or omission that may cause pain, physical deterioration, or suffering to animals, as well as endanger their life or seriously harm their health. In extreme cases, these actions would become a matter of cruelty.