Six people were convicted of animal cruelty in Buskerud after set hunting dogs on domestic animals.The verdict applied the the strictest penalty ever given for animal cruelty.
The trial in Kongsberg and Eiker district court lasted almost two months.Six people, four men and two women, were convicted and given a total of five years and five months imprisonment, reported TV 2.There has never been a stricter sentence for animal abuse in Norway.
They were sentenced for, among other things, repeatedly placing wild boar, domesticated rats, rabbits and porcupines in a fenced-in enclosure.Then dogs attacked and killed the animals or held them so that the men had to kill the animals themselves. They did this to teach the dogs, primarily American Bulldogs and Patterdale Terriers, to hunt.
The main defendant was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, said attorney Anders Westeng, reacting to the verdict. They have chosen to appeal the case.
“The verdict is hard-hitting, especially when comparing it with punishment in other areas of law, such as violence against people and children. This is an emotional punishment, given without anchor in court,” he said.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
