Compensation was set at R$50 million; According to the Civil Police, employees saved electronic equipment in the store
A Public Defender’s Office of Rio Grande do Sul filed a lawsuit against Cobasi after the death of more than 40 animals in flooding at two of the company’s stores in Porto Alegre. It requests compensation of R$50 million for environmental damage, damage to public health, psychological damage to the community affected by the incident and the publicized scenes, and punitive damages.
In one of the stores, located in the basement of a shopping mall, birds, fish and rodents were left behind during the flood that affected the space on May 3. According to the defense, witnesses pointed out that, even with the shopping center closed that day, it was still possible to access the store in the following days and remove the animals.
Also according to the defender’s office, electronic equipment was placed in shopping carts on the mezzanine, which was left intact, while the animals remained on the floor below. In that store, at least 38 dead animals were found.
In the 2nd store, the defender highlighted that the result was not the same because activists entered the store and removed the animals. Even so, 4 had already died.
“It is clear that the defendant had 5 days to safely remove the animals. However, even though he watched the water level rise, he did nothing. No witness mentions having seen any store employee go to the location to check the animals, even to see if they had food and water.”, stated, in a statement, the public defender of the Environmental Defense Center of the Public Defender’s Office, João Otávio Carmona Paz.
In addition to the R$50 million in compensation, which, according to the defense, represents less than 2% of the brand’s revenue of R$3 billion per year, the action asks that the store be prohibited from selling animals. In addition, the order includes a ban on the use of fixed cages that are difficult to remove and the sale of animals in locations identified as being at risk of flooding.
In the action, the defenders allege that the images of the dead animals directly referred to the cruel abandonment on the part of their owners and that the company seriously affected public health, as the decomposition of the animals exposed people to various diseases, such as leptospirosis, rabies, hepatitis , among others.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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