Justice Minister challenges High Court ruling in dog cruelty case
Two men received only a suspended sentence for beating and burying a female dog. Minister Tejc believes the court downplayed the severity of the offence.
Justice Minister challenges High Court ruling in dog cruelty case
Jaromír Tejc from the ANO movement filed a complaint with the Brno High Court over a decision by the Sokolov District Court. The court punished two men for cruel treatment of a dog with only a four-year suspended sentence with supervision.
The incident occurred in February of last year near Kraslice. The owner of the sick female dog Asta gave the pair 2,500 crowns to take the dog to a veterinary surgeon. The men, however, decided to keep the money and kill the dog themselves.
In a car park near a forest, they carried the 25-kilogramme animal roughly one hundred metres from the vehicle. They first kicked it, then struck it several times on the head with the flat side of a spade. When it stopped showing signs of life, they threw it into a dug hole and covered it with soil without checking whether it was actually dead.
Three days later, a passer-by found it after hearing faint whimpering. A veterinary surgeon determined it had a broken jaw with bleeding into the brain and the animal was put to sleep. Both defendants admitted their guilt before the court and expressed remorse. The judge Dana Kordíková imposed a suspended sentence on the grounds that rehabilitation was possible without a custodial sentence.
The prosecutor appealed, but the Plzeň Regional Court upheld the verdict, stating that the sentence was not disproportionately lenient. Tejc argued in his complaint that the court had insufficiently assessed the public harm caused, the intensity of the dog's suffering, and aggravating circumstances.
Even if the Supreme Court were to find a breach of law, the ruling cannot be changed. It could only issue an academic pronouncement as guidance for future courts.
Source: Novinky.cz
Source: Novinky.cz