The Municipal Misdemeanor Court in Split sentenced Ivana (53) from Podstrana to a fine of 300 euros for carelessly and unsupervisedly keeping a Shiba Inu dog that bit a passerby.
According to the court ruling, the incident occurred on May 31, 2023, at around 8:30 a.m. in Podstrana, when a dog jumped on a woman walking wearing a striped tracksuit. The victim, Gorana, suffered a superficial wound to her lower leg that required medical treatment.
The most interesting detail of the case lies in the defense of the dog's owner, who claimed that her dog, weighing about 10 kilograms, reacts to the striped clothing that the owners themselves wear at home.
"When a dog sees someone wearing stripes, the kind of clothes we wear at home, it simply reacts, you could say it's happy," the defendant stated in her defense, trying to explain her pet's behavior.
The owner claimed that she did not notice that the dog had bitten the passerby and that she did not see the damage to her clothes. In her defense, she admitted that she "started laughing" after the dog jumped on the lady, which upset the injured party and asked her "what she was laughing about." Interestingly, the injured party did not immediately mention the bite at the scene, but continued walking, and it was not until the next day that her husband came to the defendant's address, saying that her dog had bitten his wife and threatened to call the police.
The court rejected the defendant's defense, taking into account the medical documentation that confirmed that a bite had occurred. The court considered the dog owner's previous lack of prior misdemeanor convictions as a mitigating circumstance, while the fact that the misdemeanor caused specific harmful consequences to the injured party's health was taken as an aggravating circumstance.
The verdict stated that the defendant must pay the fine within 30 days of the verdict becoming final, along with an additional 30 euros in procedural costs.
Photo: Canva/Foto kreativa portal.hr
