Court Determined Punishment for Animal Abuser

In the Novobavarsky district of Kharkiv, a court delivered a verdict in the case of the brutal killing of a dog named Herda.

A retired woman witnessed a man forcibly dragging a neighbor’s German Shepherd named Herda under a bridge, where he brutally beat her with a hammer. After the attack, the dog managed to escape but later died from the injuries sustained.

Animal protection activists insisted on opening criminal proceedings. As a result of the trial, the person who ordered the killing — the dog’s owner — received 4 months of arrest, while the perpetrator Hennadiy Dovzhenko received 3 years and 4 months of imprisonment.

Dovzhenko claimed he believed the dog was sick, but forensic examinations confirmed that the animal was completely healthy.

AZOU Vice President Maryna Surkova noted that without taking into account prior convictions, the sentence would have been only 1 year of restricted liberty.