Salzburg man sentenced

Dog bite victim: “Magistrate does not check”

Dogs are generally required to be kept on a lead in the city: dog owners often do not comply, as in the current case.

(Bild: Huber Patrick)

A dog bite in Hans-Lechner-Park in Salzburg triggers a criminal trial in the district court: While the defendant plays down the incident, the victim talks about his numb finger and the often lacking sense of duty of some dog owners.

He's just a "cuddly bear" who wants to play with the other dogs: that's what the defendant (54) said at the trial on Thursday in the district court about the American Staffordshire that bit him. "It's not my dog, it's my daughter-in-law's. He is boisterous and not well trained, but not aggressive," said the man from Salzburg, who has a smaller four-legged friend himself.

Fightingdog bit dog and man
The bite incident took place on November 7, 2023 in the evening in Hans-Lechner-Park near Bayerhamerstraße in Salzburg. The one-and-a-half-year-old fighting dog was not wearing a lead or muzzle. "Unofficially, many people do that there," says the accused. A Portuguese man living in Salzburg was sitting on the bench with a friend, next to four dogs. "Suddenly a pit bull comes from the right. At first I thought he was going to attack the woman. Then he grabbed my dog by the throat." The man intervened to free his dog. His finger was bitten in the process. "My dog was badly injured and barely survived. And the tip of my finger is now numb, he hit a nerve," said the victim.

I looked it up and there are 4000 dog bites per year throughout Austria. In Salzburg alone, there is a bite every day.

Richter Aleksander Vincetić beim Prozess

"Children play there and dogs are always running around freely. The magistrate doesn't check," the man added. Judge Aleksandar Vincetić then asked the defendant another question: "Will you let dogs run free again?" The man replied with little insight: "They only get aggressive on a lead."

No chance of diversion, the judge emphasized and imposed a fine of 200 euros plus 2200 euros in damages - not legally binding.