A 59-year-old Palma man was arrested by the National Police on Wednesday after threatening neighbours who had rebuked him for hitting his dog with an iron bar.
Following calls that a man was beating his dog, a police patrol went to the Plaça Vapor at around three in the afternoon. Residents told officers that they had heard the dog howling in pain. When they looked out, they saw the man mistreating the dog, something which he had apparently done on previous occasions.
When residents tried to stop the man hitting the dog, he threatened to kill them. He left the square before the police arrived. The dog, taken care of by one of the residents, was taken to a vet.
Officers located the man in an abandoned mill, which he uses as a home. When questioned, he admitted that he had struck the dog because it hadn't been paying attention to him. Officers discovered an iron bar at the premises which corresponded to the description given by witnesses.
The man appeared before a judge yesterday and was released. He will appear in court at a later date on a charge of animal mistreatment. Meanwhile, the dog - a five-year-old mongrel called Dan - is at the Son Reus animal centre. A Facebook campaign has been launched to adopt him.