State slowly stirs to stop dog attacks

  • 2001-10-25
  • Jorgen Johansson
RIGA - Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga promised on Oct. 23 to draft legislative changes to hold people responsible for their pets' actions after an American Staffordshire terrier attacked and seriously injured a child at the weekend.

"Despite the claims of the Justice Ministry's representative that everything is okay, it seems the legislation is not clear," she said in an interview on Latvian state radio. "When dogs lacerate children and police continue to say that the state can do nothing about it, it's time for somebody to act."

The attack on an 11-year-old boy named Edgars on the outskirts of Riga was the second by Dora, the very same dog that mutilated the face of a nine-year-old boy in the elevator of an apartment building in July.

After that incident her owner was forced to pay a 50 lat fine plus 200 lats for the boy's treatment. The owner refused to put her down after she tested negative for rabies.

Under Latvian law dogs may not be put down without the owner's consent except where rabies or another illness is affecting the dog's health. But after the second attack the regional police asked the Latvian State Food and Veterinary Service to decide on the dog's fate and the response was categorical. "I will not hesitate to put the dog to sleep," the service's director Vinets Veldre said.

Latvia's Dog Handlers' Federation said in a statement that as a result of mistreatment by her owner Dora was "unfortunately incorrigible - its owner has brought her up to be a viscous dog endangering people around her."

Since receiving a complaint from Edgars' parents Riga municipal police have been looking into what happened but have so far not located the owner and have not opened a criminal case.

The attack occurred when the dog tore itself free from the point where it was tethered outside a café. Several witnesses apparently stood paralyzed as the canine mauled the boy's arm.

"Fortunately, our boy was able to stand up straight so the dog couldn't tear him apart," Edgars' father told the Latvian newspaper Diena. "If this had been his little sister, who was following a few minutes behind him, she would have been finished."

Edgars is far from being the only child to have been attacked by animals in Latvia recently. On Oct. 20 a four-year-old girl was taken to the Latvian Plastic and Reconstructive Microsurgery Center after her family's pet dog bit her ear off. Four children are currently recovering from dog attacks in children's hospitals in Riga.

Following Dora's first attack in July, Prime Minister Andris Berzins and Agriculture Minister Atis Slakteris together came up with new dog ownership rules. The Agriculture Ministry produced a list of dangerous dogs - pitt bull terriers, Argentine Danes, Brazilian filas and American Straffordshire terriers - all of which are to be sterilized or castrated by Aug. 1 next year.