Dozens of dogs rescued and suspect arrested in Uganda after BBC investigation

Dozens of dogs rescued and suspect arrested in Uganda after BBC investigation3 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleChiara FrancavillaBBC Africa EyeBBCRusset was treated by a vet after being injured and used in fraudulent campaigns to raise money Dozens of dogs kept in sham animal shelters and used for online scamming have been rescued by police and animal rights organisations in Uganda following a BBC investigation.A suspect has been arrested after two adjacent shelters were raided by the police. Two other suspects are said to be at large, according to animal rights activists.Owen Godfrey Membe has pleaded not guilty to a charge of animal cruelty and has been remanded in custody until 27 May.Membe is accused of "killing an animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner" under Uganda's Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) Act.Membe's dogs and those belonging to a nearby operation remain at the raided shelters, but are now in the care of the Animal Welfare Alliance Uganda, a network of local and international activists aiming to tackle organised animal exploitation. The organisation, which includes qualified veterinarians, said it had secured land where an emergency shelter is being set up to receive the dogs.The case against Membe has been brought as a private prosecution by the Animal Justice Center, a Uganda-based organisation, with funding from We Won't Be Scammed, a UK-based group which uses online vigilante tactics to expose sham rescue shelters in Uganda. We Won't Be Scammed said it was working to receive the dogs from the raided shelters in its existing partner facilities in Uganda.The arrest and rescue follow the publication of a BBC investigation exposing how scammers in Mityana, posting social content of dogs in distress, have been tricking international donors out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.BBC uncovers the scammers exploiting dogs to elicit donations from animal loversUndercover filming by the BBC showed that instead of b...