Trial in Feldkirch

Dog was thrown off the balcony

The 30-year-old got off with a diversion.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

After the bulldog "Maxi" bit the calf of the dog owner's colleague, the 30-year-old could no longer contain his rage - and intervened very forcefully. He has now ended up in court for cruelty to animals.

The case concerns the 24-kilogram bulldog "Maxi" and a fatal bite to the calf of a colleague of the accused dog owner. For some inexplicable reason, the animal had become wedged in the victim's leg in mid-April. In anger, the accused grabbed the family dog by the neck, threw it against a shed and then threw it off the balcony.

During the trial on Friday, the previously blameless man admitted to abusing "Maxi". However, he explained his actions in anger with the intransigence of his sick parents: "I had always told them that a bulldog is a lively dog and not suitable for them as a therapy dog. But they wanted him, but were completely overwhelmed with the training of the animal."

1200 euro fine
Attacks on children had already occurred in the past. Although Judge Sabrina Tagwercher is of the opinion that "this is not nothing that has happened", she refrains from sentencing. She let the blameless man off the hook by settling the matter diversionally and imposing a fine of 1,200 euros on the dog owner. Reason: "There was no unprovoked cruelty to animals, but a trigger in the form of a bite."