With 18 months in prison and a 5,000 euro fine, a hunter from Heraklion was convicted by the Courts in Heraklion last week. He claimed to be “training” his dog to hunt and as such, tortured and mishandled the animal, which he kept in appalling conditions, in isolation in an uninhabited and seriously derelict property of his in Deilina, in Heraklion.
The dog, which was particularly nervous, was fed once every 15 days or even once a month, and always with raw meat. It was regularly tied up, with two chains and a very tight collar so as to, he told authorities after his arrest, “develop the aggressive attitude of a hunting dog”.
The dog cried constantly as it was being kept in a dirty and restricted environment, without company, care, food and water and the residents in the area finally reported the abuse on 28th December 2013, to the Heraklion based animal welfare group, “Active Animal Lovers”.
Members of the group went to inspect the conditions where the dog was being kept, accompanied by one of the people who had made the report and after seeing the situation for themselves, they immediately made a formal report to the police. The prosecuting judge gave an order for the dog to be removed from it’s owner.
Pepita, as the volunteers named her, spent a short time at the Council shelter in Heraklion and was then adopted into a lovely family.
As soon as the final decision has been published by the courts, the animal welfare group will request that the Police impose the 30,000 euro administrative fine, which is proposed in article 21 of the law 439/2012.