As reported on Thursday by the Panevėžys District Court, the convicted person’s appeal was dismissed, and the lower court’s decision was recognized as lawful and justified.
Read more Horror on an Italian beach: chairs flew during mass brawls, women were injured
According to the case data, the accident occurred on the morning of October 23, 2024, in a village in the Kupiškis district. Two Jagdterrier breed dogs that ran out from an unfenced yard attacked a neighbor walking by.
The aggressive pets attacked the woman, knocked her to the ground, and bit various parts of her body. The victim suffered bite and tear wounds on her left ear, arms, forearms, and buttock, as well as damaged hand tendons.
For this crime, the dog owner was sentenced to one year of restriction of liberty, ordered to participate in a behavior correction program within six months, and to pay a 1,000 euro contribution to the Fund for Victims of Crimes.
Additionally, the convicted person was ordered to pay the victim 300 euros in property damage and 5,000 euros in non-property damage compensation, and 1,660 euros to the State Health Insurance Fund to cover medical expenses.
Disagreeing with the court’s verdict, the convicted person requested acquittal in the appeal. The man denied guilt and claimed that during the incident his pets were confined in a kennel, and there were no direct witnesses to the event.
The convicted person explained that he simply saw the injured neighbor on the road and took her to the hospital himself, later facing unfounded accusations and a biased investigation.
Read more Another company is laying off employees: here is who will lose their jobs
The Panevėžys District Court rejected these arguments of the convicted person’s appeal as unfounded. The panel of judges noted that although there were no direct witnesses to the incident, the guilt is unequivocally confirmed by a consistent set of indirect evidence: the victim’s own testimony, medical experts’ conclusions, and witnesses’ statements.
Witnesses confirmed that immediately after the incident, the convicted person himself mentioned the damage caused by the dogs, saying he had “messed up,” and the next day urgently applied for official registration of the pets.
Moreover, the victim accurately described the number of dogs and characteristics matching the animals kept by the convicted person.
“The first instance court rightly recognized that although the accused did not foresee that his inaction could lead to such consequences, both from the circumstances of the act and personal characteristics, he could and should have foreseen it, therefore acted with criminal negligence,” emphasized the district court.
The court noted that every dog owner must ensure that their pet does not run beyond the property boundaries and does not pose a danger to people’s health and life.
In this case, the convicted person did not provide proper care for the pets, so he bears legal and financial responsibility.
Read more “KN Energies” hopes to enter the Vietnam LNG market within at least six months, says the CFO
The Panevėžys District Court’s ruling is final.
