The Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has launched criminal proceedings against the head of municipality, the village of Tiksi over signs of the crime under part 2 of article 293 of the RF Penal Code (negligence entailing reckless homicide).
According to investigators, in the period between May 2011 and December 2013, a prosecutor of Bulunsky district repeatedly made applications to the head of the village of Tiksi to eliminate violation of the law connected to a large number of stray dogs in the village, including near schools, and facts of attacks of those dogs on the villagers threatening their lives and health. In January 2014 the court recognized the omission of the village administration illegal and bound the head of administration to organize capture of stray dogs and cats, to set up a station for such animals and a zoological commission.
In addition, on 11 February 2014, the head of the village administration received an administrative punishment for not taking measures by the authorized organizations to capture stray dogs in the areas under their jurisdiction.
The inaction of the head of administration resulted in an incident when on 10 March 2014 a pack of stray dogs bit a 9-year-old girl near a house in the Academic Fyodorov Street. The girl’s dead body was found with lacerated wounds to her hands, legs and stomach.
During the criminal investigation the specialists examined the incident scene and assigned a forensic medical expert examination. Witnesses are being interviewed and other investigating operations are underway to find all the circumstances of the incident.
The head of the Tiksi administration has been detained. Restraint is under discussion.
It should be noted that it is not the only case in the region, when a pack of aggressive stray dogs attack people and more often the victims are children. The same way, on 18 February 2014, a pack of 5 dogs attacked a 9-year-old boy in Dorozhnaya Street, the village of Berkatit, Neryunginsky district. The boy died of the bites on the way to hospital. The investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have opened a criminal case under part 1 of article 109 of the RF Penal Code (reckless homicide).
The Investigative Committee is concerned by the fact that such incidents regularly happen in different regions of the country and that the attacks of dogs often lead to death of children. To prevent such tragedies in future, the Investigative Committee is addressing to municipal authorities, who are in charge of maintaining the territory of towns and villages and of providing safety of citizens, to tackle the problem. Moreover, the problem of keeping pets and stray animals requires clearer legislative settling.
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