A 29-year-old local man was due to appear before the Innsbruck Regional Court on Tuesday. The accusation: he allegedly gave a strange dog several blows. Was it criminal animal abuse?
The incident took place in Innsbruck in February this year. The defendant was walking his dog there when suddenly a stray German Shepherd “shot” at him, as he vividly and noticeably upset described it at trial. “The dog then bit me and injured my dog,” he explained.
The suspect ran after the couple
What happened next, however, remained partly unclear. “I ran after the dog owner and her male companion wanting to know their names,” said the man, who repeatedly described himself as “very fond of animals.” Under no circumstances did he hit their dog on the head and face with his fist – as was accused. “That’s just a lie,” he said curtly.
Witnesses: ‘He hit the dog with his fists’
The people interviewed as witnesses who traveled with the “opponent” dog saw things very differently. “He pulled my dog to the ground by the chain and then viciously and violently beat the dog,” said the dog owner. The man who accompanied her at the time also described the matter in a similar way: “He repeatedly hit the dog with his fists.”
Acquitted because there was no “gross abuse”
Judge Michael Böhler largely believed the witnesses. “It probably happened somehow,” he said. However, it is also true that the blows were by no means so severe as to constitute animal abuse. “For this to happen, the intensity of the abuse would have to be that of raw abuse.” That’s why he acquitted the man – not legally.
Source: Krone
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