A young man, along with a minor accomplice, tortured a dog in the woods and filmed the assault on a smartphone, explaining his actions by saying that the dog was “barking loudly.” The prosecutor’s office is seeking his arrest.
In Zakarpattia, law enforcement officials exposed and brought criminal charges against a suspect in a high-profile crime against animals. In the village of Bohdan in the Rakhiv district, a 19-year-old local resident beat his own dog to death with particular cruelty, while his underage acquaintance recorded the torture on video for publication online.
This was reported by the press service of the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Torture in the Forest and Video Footage of the Brutality
Law enforcement officers discovered shocking footage of the abuse during their daily monitoring of social media. The video showed one young man mercilessly beating the tied-up animal while another filmed the process on a cell phone.
Police investigators quickly identified both individuals in the video:
- Circumstances of the crime: The 19-year-old owner took the dog to a wooded area near the village of Bohdan, tied a rope around its neck to a tree branch, and suspended it so that the animal could neither resist nor escape;
- 30 blows to the head: Afterward, the perpetrator took a heavy wooden stick and delivered about 30 targeted blows to the dog’s head until the animal died from fatal injuries;
- The animal abuser’s “motive”: During questioning, the suspect cynically explained his actions by claiming that the dog in the yard was allegedly “constantly howling and barking annoyingly for no reason.”
Evidence, investigative actions, and severe punishment
During urgent investigative measures, the suspect personally indicated the location in the forest where he had left the body of the killed animal. Forensic experts discovered the dog’s remains there, along with a rope left on a tree and a wooden club. Mobile phones containing original recordings of the torture were also seized from the suspects and included in the case file as indisputable physical evidence.
The actions of the 19-year-old resident of the village of Bohdan have been classified under the most severe provision of the animal protection statute:
- he has been officially charged under Part 3 of Article 299 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (cruel treatment of animals resulting in their death, committed with particular cruelty, repeatedly, by a group of persons, or in the presence of a minor).
The Tyachiv District Prosecutor’s Office will insist in court that the suspect be held in pretrial detention without the right to bail. The young man faces 5 to 8 years in prison for his actions.
The pretrial investigation is being conducted by the investigative unit of the Rakhiv District Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast. A separate legal assessment is being conducted regarding the actions of the minor cameraman who participated in the filming.
Source: Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office
