Three traumatised wallabies living far from their usual Australian habitat were recovering in a Spanish zoo on Thursday after being rescued from a rural cannabis plantation full of rotting animals.
Police said the marsupials, similar to but smaller than kangaroos, were saved alongside 14 dogs, three calves and two deer from their ordeal in the central municipality of Malagón in Castilla-La Mancha on Tuesday.
During their raid, “the officers came across an unusual scene when they found dozens of animals in woeful hygiene and sanitary conditions”, police said in a statement.
The trapped animals lived alongside the corpses of other creatures, “some of them in an advanced state of decomposition”, including “hundreds of chickens” who were tossed in bags to the dogs as food.
The wallabies and the deer shared a garden used by the suspects and their young children, the police added.
La Policía Nacional ha intervenido una finca de Malagón donde se ocultaban más de 1.000 plantas de marihuana y una escena de grave abandono animal. Entre ellos, tres walabíes, una especie de marsupial similar al canguro.https://t.co/RMKSiUkUlD pic.twitter.com/JlFIeD2iZH
— La Tribuna de Ciudad Real (@LaTribunaCR) July 2, 2026
The wallabies were later taken to a zoo in the central province of Toledo.
Officers seized almost 1,000 cannabis plants from the site, which included an underground production area and was illegally connected to the power grid.
Two suspects were arrested on charges including animal abuse and offences against flora, fauna and public health.
