Animal abuse will soon be punished as a felony rather than a misdemeanor, according to legislation planned by Agricultural Development & Foods Minister Makis Voridis, following a rise in such incidents lately.
In a ministry statement on Thursday, Voridis said that “incidents of violence against animals have no place in a well-ordered state and are a serious insult to both the state and Greek society.”
Responding to media reports last week of the torture and mutilation of a dog on Crete by its owner, Voridis expressed his abhorrence and said he would soon introduce an update to domestic animal abuse law in parliament.
Posted by Elizabeth Iliakis on Monday, October 5, 2020
In the latest incident of animal cruelty, a man was arrested on Tuesday for repeatedly stabbing a dog in the street in the suburb of Nikaia, west of Athens.
According to an eyewitness who notified the police, the perpetrator, reportedly a school teacher, had the dog in a headlock while repeatedly stabbing it with a knife in the stomach and chest area, piercing its lung.
At the same time, another man hit the dog on the head with a metal broomstick. Both men took off before police arrived, but the teacher was later tracked down at his home and arrested.
Neighbors of the suspect told Skai TV that he would regularly threaten locals because they fed stray dogs in the neighborhood.
The dog underwent surgery and was reportedly in critical condition yesterday. It had a collar and authorities were looking for its owner.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
