ODT: Decision in dog fighting case made in accordance with law

The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Rožaje reacted to the claims of animal rights activist Nikola Jočić, published in the text "Jočić: The prosecutor's problematic decision, organizing a dog fight is a criminal offense."

They say that his claim that the prosecutor's decision, which stated that the actions of DK (28) from Rožaje and EP (43) from Bijelo Polje did not constitute a criminal offense, is "legally unfounded" is not true.

"The published texts made unfounded claims that the decision that in this specific case there are no elements of a criminal offense for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio was made legally unfounded, which is not true. The Basic State Prosecutor's Office, based on all the information collected, made a decision that in this specific case it was a misdemeanor. (Art. 51, paragraph 1, item 8 of the Animal Welfare Protection Act).

"The key reason that determined the prosecutor on duty to declare that this was a misdemeanor, and not a criminal offense of training animals for fighting and organizing animal fights (Art. 309a of the Criminal Code of Montenegro) is the fact that for a criminal offense, the existence of 'mercenary' is necessary, that is, the fact that any benefit from dog fighting was agreed upon, while the existence of such a basis does not exist for cases of misdemeanors. Since the police officers, based on the information collected, determined that in this specific case no benefit was agreed upon by the dog owner, the prosecutor on duty declared that this was a misdemeanor under the Animal Welfare Protection Act.

"The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Rožaje respects the views of animal rights activists, to whom we offer our full support on this occasion and express our readiness for future cooperation, but at the same time notes that in this case, as in any other, the decision was made based on the law and the information and evidence collected, which will continue to be done in the future. The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Rožaje is also open to cooperation with the media in order to ensure objective information for the public in accordance with the rule that the other side must be heard," the response reads.