April 11, 2026 – 18:50
The director of Penitentiary Establishments of the Ministry of Justice ruled out that a cat had been slaughtered in the Coronel Oviedo Regional Penitentiary, as a citizen complaint suggested. He revealed what type of animal was slaughtered and the circumstances under which it occurred.
This Saturday, the citizen animal defense organization Olfateando Huellas denounced the alleged slaughter of a cat in the Coronel Oviedo Regional Penitentiarypublishing an image that supposedly showed a skinned feline.
In communication with ABC Cardinalthe director of Penitentiary Establishments of the Ministry of Justice, Ruben Penasaid that he ordered the director of the Coronel Oviedo penitentiary, Jorge Toralesto conduct an investigation into the complaint.
According to Peña, the result of the investigation showed that the animal in question is not a cat, but a rabbit.
According to the explanation given by the representative of the Ministry of Justice, a person deprived of his liberty in the Coronel Oviedo penitentiary is dedicated to raising rabbits and took a slaughtered specimen of one of those animals with him to the prison at the end of his last permit.
Peña added that the animal’s head is being preserved in a refrigerator owned by the director of the penitentiary so that veterinarians or other interested people can verify the official version of what happened.
Cats in penitentiaries
The director of Penitentiary Establishments commented that many penitentiaries use cats as “pest control” and said that the felines are neutered to avoid overcrowding and “they are cared for because they are very useful.”
Read more: How cats choose their favorite human (and how you could be)
“It is quite outrageous that it is said that cats are being consumed in penitentiaries,” he lamented.
