Dogs attacked more than 9,000 people in Lithuania last year Ð and these are just the registered statistics.
ÒThe new laws, which will be passed this spring, speak about pets, not only dogs. They might be cats or snakes, for example. We canÕt adopt special laws on every type of pet,Ó Raimondas Sukys, Liberal MP and chairman of the committee, told The Baltic Times.
But it is clear that aggressive dogs are the main problem. The committee proposes a variety of punishments for the owners of aggressive pets, starting from fines of between 200 litas ($50) and 2,000 litas and ending with imprisonment for up to two years.
ÒAt the moment, the highest money penalty for an owner of a pet biting someone is 500 litas. Soon the laws will be stricter. After passing these amendments, imprisonment could be used in cases of two previous incidents involving the ownerÕs pet that have caused injuries to people. The court will enforce this if two financial penalties in the past have not made the owner take more care,Ó Sukys said.
The committee also appealed to the government to create common rules throughout the country for keeping pets. MPs asked the government to do this by Jan. 1, 2002.
ÒAt the moment, each municipality creates its own regulations,Ó Sukys said. He added that the committee is urging the government to consider a ban or very strict regulations on pit bulls, bull terriers and other pets known for their aggressive character.
Domininkas Velicka, a Liberal MP and a member of the same parliamentary committee, said that, although he has a dog himself, he supports strict regulations and changes in the existing law. He said that new laws could win great support in Lithuanian society.
ÒThere is no multi-party system in our country. There are only two real parties in Lithuania - those who like dogs and those who donÕt like dogs,Ó Velicka said smiling.
He added that many people behave irresponsibly when they buy dogs. ÒWhen they buy a car they know that they are obliged to obey the rules of the road,Ó Velicka said. ÒHowever, when they buy a dog they start to be concerned only after problems begin.Ó
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