]A young man is in the slammer and facing criminal charges after he was caught killing a pelican on the shores of Lake Chapala.
If he goes to trial, Aaron Díaz Rojas, 19, would become the first person in Chapala to be prosecuted under Jalisco’s newly implemented animal cruelty laws.
Following up on the report from an anonymous caller on the afternoon of Sunday, September 21, Chapala police were dispatched to the shoreline beach on the eastern outskirts of the city where they witnessed Díaz Rojas firing off shots with an air rifle targeted at a flock of white pelicans that inhabit the area.
When the officers spotted one of the birds dead on the ground, they detained the shooter and hauled him off to police headquarters, where he was put in a cell until municipal judge Roberto Pérez Vargas looked into the situation.
Deciding that the case merited review by state prosecutors, Perez put the suspect, his weapon and the dead bird at the disposition of the Chapala office of the Ministerio Público (MP or district attorney).
After a veterinary autopsy revealed that the pelican died from gunshot wounds, MP officials determined there were sufficient grounds to charge Díaz with violation of Jalisco’s newly implemented statute against animal cruelty. He was then remanded to the criminal court and booked into the regional prison. He was granted 72 hours to present his legal defense or request a double time extension to that end, before the judge is required to decide whether or not to proceed with prosecution.
This is the third animal cruelty case to have cropped up statewide since the new law took effect on July 14, and the first one to be handled by the Chapala MP.
If convicted, Díaz could face a sentence of six months to three years behind bars, a monetary fine as high as 67,000 pesos, and/or up to 120 days of community service. Defendants are eligible for release on bond while cases of this type work their way through the court system.