Crackdown Looms over Canine Menace in Belgrade

A series of high-profile dog attacks have prompted the authorities to push for stricter penalties against irresponsible pet-owners.

A three-year-old girl had an ear bitten off by a Staffordshire terrier on October 11th. The following day, a pregnant woman was attacked by a pack of stray dogs in the district of Sumice.

Predrag Petrovic, Belgrade’s secretary for communal affairs, said four of the five attacks reported this month had been carried out by dogs that were kept as pets.

“We can no longer tolerate a situation in which no one is responsible for the dogs,” he told the Tanjug news agency. He called for tougher sanctions against negligent owners.

Owners of dogs that commit minor offences currently face a fine of between €50 and €250. However, criminal charges can be brought if a person is seriously injured or killed by a pet dog.

Meanwhile, an official drive to round-up stray dogs prompted a crowd of 150 people to protest outside the city’s parliament earlier this month. Demonstrators said officials had stepped up their campaign against the strays in a misguided response to the latest attacks.
“They [the authorities] should promote responsible ownership and punish those who are negligent… All these things take time, but it’s the only humane solution,” one of the protesters told reporters.

However, Petrovic said the city would continue moving stray animals to shelters, arguing that it was in the interests of public safety.

There are an estimated 15,000 stray dogs in Belgrade.

Some 80 per cent of the capital’s strays have been captured for neutering and testing by experts over the last two years. Those animals that are not believed to pose a threat have been released back on to the streets.