Colombia police rescue dogs from troubled neighborhood
Colombia police rescue dogs from troubled neighborhood
Jun 2, 3:25 PM EDT
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A police officer carries a dog that was rescued from El Bronx, a neighborhood
plagued by drug addicts and prostitution, in downtown Bogota, Colombia,
Thursday, June 2, 2016. Days after the police raided the streets of Colombia's
largest open-air drug market, authorities returned to rescue the abandoned
dogs and cats. The goal is to get the animals adopted.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Authorities have returned to a rugged Bogota neighborhood to rescue the dogs and cats left behind when police shut down the country's largest open-air drug market.
Col. Nelson Arias of Bogota's police says about 50 dogs and 20 cats were rescued by veterinarians during Thursday's operation. Arias says authorities hope to find people to adopt the rescued animals.
More than 1,000 people were removed over the weekend in a surprise raid on the neighborhood known as the Bronx that is located just blocks from the presidential palace. Authorities also rescued 136 minors, some of them possibly used as child prostitutes.
The Bronx has long been a major embarrassment and symbol of abandonment by the state. Authorities have tried to neutralize the neighborhood in the past but to no lasting effect.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_ANIMAL_RESCUE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-06-02-15-25-40
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