The 80-year-old defendant is in court as he let his Jack Russell off the leash in May in a park in Mersch. Consequently, the terrier bit both another dog and the dog's owner, a now 26-year-old woman.
As the man had already been sentenced to a fine in April 2017 for a similar infraction, the prosecutor called for a suspended sentence of two months prison in light of the repeat incident.
In addition to the suspended sentence, the prosecutor also recommended that the man follow a dog training course as well as keep his dog on the lead in future incidents. Finally, the prosecutor called for a fine. The prosecutor explained that the man required different sections to those in April 2017, as he remained unaware of the danger his dog poses to others.
The victim who was bitten last year explained that she had been walking three dogs as the white Jack Russell ran to her and suddenly jumped on to one of her dogs, the Maltese, and bit it. She explained that the Jack Russell's owner saw the incident but did not come to get his dog. She attempted to remove the aggressive dog, which then bit her left hand. The man then told her to let his dog go, whilst the dog bit her again.
She explained that she took her dog to the vet first and then went to the hospital. The vet had immediately known who the man was and gave the victim his address. The victim then went to file a complaint with the police, who then called the man on her behalf. She told the court that she no longer takes her dogs to that park and requested that the man pay her bills as well as €300 in moral damages.
The defendant claimed that his dog had never bitten anyone before, making this the first such incident. He claimed that it was out of the ordinary for his dog to have bitten another dog and that the victim had only been scratched. Despite this claim, he did acknowledge his responsibility for the incident. He stressed that his Jack Russell had only run away twice, to which the court president responded that the dog had nevertheless bitten two others.
The verdict will be proclaimed on 7 March.
