A groundbreaking ruling convicts a man of vicarious violence who killed his couple's dog.

BarcelonaGroundbreaking ruling on gender-based violence. A Canary Islands court has sentenced an 18-year-old man to twelve months and one day in prison for killing his partner's dog with the sole purpose of psychologically harming the woman. In the ruling, the judge of the second court for gender-based violence in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Auxiliadora Díaz, interprets the case from a "gender perspective," considering the murder of the animal as a case of vicarious violence, which allows him to have jurisdiction.

The sentence considers it proven that on September 13, the man threatened his partner, saying: "I'll kill the dog and then I'll kill myself." Shortly afterward, and with the intention of undermining the woman's psychological integrity, he threw the animal—a four-month-old puppy, property of both of them—off a cliff, which caused its death. The woman required medical attention and suffered psychological after-effects with an estimated recovery period of 90 days. In this sense, the judge classifies the facts as a crime against animals, aggravated by the concurrence of psychological abuse, and emphasizes that it is not a mere factual simultaneity, but rather a specific purpose: "To kill the animal to psychologically harm the woman."

This coincidence is the characteristic of vicarious violence, a form of sexist violence that has its most tragic expression in the murder of the children or other family members to harm the woman. A 2022 amendment to the Penal Code also added assaults on "companion animals," which are recognized as sentient beings. For the judge, there is no doubt that with the murder of the dog, the court sought to maintain and reinforce the "relationship of dominance" and the "humiliation" it exercised against his former partner. For all these reasons, the sentence emphasizes the need to also provide "an aggravated punitive response" like the one issued in this pioneering ruling.

In addition to the twelve months and one day in prison, the judge imposed a restraining order on the young man against the woman for two years and one day, as well as a special prohibition order on him from owning animals or engaging in any activity related to them. During the same period, he is also prohibited from communicating with his ex-partner.

The convicted man admitted the facts in a fast-track trial on September 22, and the sentence is now final.