The Rožaje police processed DK (28) from that city and EP (43) from Bijelo Polje for organizing a dog fight.
They announced that they acted on operational information that several people were organizing dog fighting in the town of Gornja Lovnica, in Rožaje.
"Upon locating the scene, police officers found three people with two dogs there, as follows: NZ (24) and EP (43) from Bijelo Polje, and DK (28) from Rožaje, while the dog fight was in progress, but was interrupted by the arrival of police officers. On this occasion, the dogs were not injured. The aforementioned persons were brought to the premises of the Rožaje Security Department, in order to collect information, after which the state prosecutor at the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Rožaje was informed of the incident, who stated that there were no elements of a criminal offense in the actions of these persons," the Police Directorate announced.
Police officers filed a request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against DK and EP for committing misdemeanors under Article 51, paragraph 1, item 8 of the Animal Welfare Protection Act.
"Officers of the Regional Security Center 'North' continue to proactively work to suppress all forms of illegal activity, prosecute criminal offenses and misdemeanors, and conduct increased controls to prevent similar events," the statement reads.
"Legally unfounded" prosecutor's decision
Animal rights activist Nikola Jočić said that the prosecutor's decision "is not only legally unfounded, but also deeply problematic, because organizing dog fighting is a criminal offense."
"Based on Article 309a of the Criminal Code, which provides for a fine and a prison sentence of six months to three years. The prosecutor has obviously lost sight of the fact that these are living beings, that dogs have very pronounced emotions, and that organized fights will have long-term psychological and physical consequences on them."
He assessed that police officers deserve praise for their quick and professional response, and that the rejection of "all evidence by the acting prosecutor makes the proceedings incomprehensible and suspicious."
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