🚨 Justice institutions continue with lenient sentences for organizing dog fights

The Basic Court in Gjilan, Viti branch, has accepted the request of the Basic Prosecution in Gjilan for a punitive order against the defendant A.R., for organizing or participating in a dog fight.

In this case, the Court found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 150 EUR, which our organization considers very symbolic.

We are disappointed that the justice institutions (Prosecution Offices and Courts) constantly give minimum sentences for participating or organizing dog fights, with amounts that are usually easily covered by the perpetrators of these criminal acts.
Likewise, it should be noted that there are many cases when reports of dog fights are not handled at all, or are rejected by the Prosecutor’s Office, often without conducting investigations at all.

Organizations of dog fights are present throughout Kosovo, and in most of these cases, the number of bets placed reaches significant amounts of money, therefore even these symbolic punishments cannot serve to prevent the participation or organization of such fights in the future.

Moreover, in none of the cases judged so far, neither the Prosecutor’s Office has requested, nor the Court has ordered the confiscation of dogs that are victims and experience great suffering. Dogs continue to remain with abusive handlers/owners until they are forced back into combat by their owners, putting the animals’ welfare at extreme risk. 😢🐕

Unfortunately, the provisions of the Criminal Code on dog fighting are insufficient to stop this abusive phenomenon, and on the other hand, even this current provision, which foresees imprisonment of up to 6 months, is not being implemented in practice. Unless the perpetrators are jailed and their dogs confiscated, no other monetary penalty will improve the situation and prevent dog abuse.

It is extremely important that law enforcement institutions increase their capacity and pay much more attention to criminal offenses related to animal abuse, so as not to encourage people to engage in this criminal violance, which are quite profitable for the abusers of animals. Moreover, the accommodation/shelter capacities for such cases should be established, so that they are at least temporarily organized in some accommodation infrastructure and not left to their abusers.