On the morning of this August 28, a serious traffic accident was reported in the locality of Usaquén, north of Bogotá, involving a box truck, a private car, and a school bus.
According to preliminary reports from the District Mobility Secretariat, the traffic accident occurred precisely at 146th Street with 13th Avenue, in the Cedritos neighborhood.
According to the preliminary report from the authorities, the accident happened around 5:20 a.m. The strong impact alerted local residents, who upon looking out their windows discovered that a van loaded with pets had overturned.
According to preliminary hypotheses from the Bogotá Traffic Police, the accident was likely caused by excessive speed and recklessness in disobeying a ‘Stop’ sign.
Paramedics and local residents arrived at the accident scene to provide first aid. Fortunately, no one was injured, but authorities have not yet issued an official report on the condition of the animals transported in the vehicle.
Images and testimonies published on social media established that the company involved in the accident is ‘Cultura Canina’. According to Facebook user Kelly Castillo, the animals were transported in a truck with license plate NUY 114.
“A truck from the company ‘Cultura Canina’ crashed with a school bus and a pickup truck and then overturned with dogs inside. Despite the presence of speed bumps, the driver was going so fast that he could not control the crash and ended up overturned,” Castillo wrote on her social media.
According to the complainant, 12 dogs were traveling in the vehicle and, an hour after the crash, they were transferred to another van without having received prior medical evaluation by a veterinarian.
“If your dog is injured, acting strangely, or something is wrong and the company does not notify you about what happened (…) They called another company truck and loaded the dogs there. I couldn’t record a video of the dogs in the overturned truck but there were 12. The truck’s license plate: NUY 114.”
She added: “The truck doors are dented from the inside, so it is possible that the dogs are badly hurt. Let’s hope they receive the appropriate care at the canine school veterinary clinic and that the veterinary team is more professional and careful than the drivers they have.”
Although the company has not yet issued an official statement about the pets’ health, a heated debate about the handling of the emergency erupted on social media.
In response to Facebook posts claiming that all the dogs were unharmed, user Kelly Castillo strongly denied that version and reiterated her concern for the animals’ condition.
“It is false that they have already been medically evaluated, I am right in front and the dogs were taken by the other truck less than half an hour ago, they simply loaded them onto another truck and took them away. There was no veterinarian performing medical evaluations. They will possibly do it when they arrive at the canine school,” Castillo reported.
FELIPE SANTANILLA AYALA
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