Chetumal, Q.R. — Authorities have taken two people into custody for defrauding clients who hired their pet services. On Thursday, police said Guillermo Alejandro “N” and Briseidy “N” were arrested for crimes against the environment and fraud against private victims.
Police reported that Guillermo Alejandro “N” is the owner of the pet crematorium where, to date, 150 pet carcasses were found dumped in lots. Those pet carcasses were supposed to have been cremated, but were found inside black garbage bags that had been tossed in several nearby vacant lots.
“Instead of cremating the dogs, he placed them in plastic bags and dumped them in vacant lots near the premises, giving clients urns filled with dirt instead of ashes,” police said.
The woman, Briseidy “N”, “was responsible for receiving bank transfers from clients and conducting ceremonies with flowers, incense and candles to say goodbye to the pets,” police added.
Pet owners who hired their services paid between 1,500 and 2,500 to have their pet cremated and the ashes returned to them.
An inspection has also revealed that he was operating without a business license.
“After an inspection by personnel, it was confirmed that he did not have the required municipal permits to operate, and that the cremation ovens had not been used despite the fact that he offered pet cremation services at prices ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 pesos,” authorities explained.
Police say so far, 80 people who were defrauded have come forward to file complaints against the company.
Elements of the State Attorney General’s Office, in coordination with the Ministry of Ecology and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Othón P. Blanco City Council, are carrying out inspections in three of four vacant lots located in the Barrio Bravo neighborhood where they have found 150 pet carcasses in plastic bags.
