The facts had moved on social networks, they are now judged. The Nice Criminal Court sentenced this Monday, July 11, a 22-year-old Romanian to 6 months in prison for beating a dog to death. He also no longer has the right to keep an animal or to exercise a profession related to animals. The facts date back to June 11 and occurred in the Gairaut district of Nice. This homeless person violently attacked the dog of the woman’s companion who was temporarily housing him. It was the neighbors who alerted the police when they heard the moans of the animal.
During the hearing, the judge reports to the court the confused and changing explanations expressed by the suspect during his hearing and then during the psychiatric expertise. The young man first justified his action by being bitten by the dog, then by the animal’s refusal to put on its leash for the walk and finally by a fit of madness. “I didn’t expect to hit so hard”, he told investigators. The autopsy, however, revealed numerous fractures, a burst liver and even bones of the animal in its own stomach. The psychiatrist also specifies that despite the suspect’s psychic imbalances and his consumption of narcotics, his act cannot be explained by a lack of discernment.
Five civil party associations
“It was a surge of violence, he is a man of great cruelty”, says the lawyer who represents the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA). “Today it’s a dog but it could have been a baby or an elderly person”, continues that of the association Au service des Animaux des Alpes-Maritimes. The prosecutor then calls not to be influenced by subjectivity, recalls the very media coverage of the case. She also points out, quite bitterly, that she has “never seen so many associations taking civil action for the cause of women during trials for domestic violence”, before requiring six months in prison, the sentence then pronounced by the court. The associations say they are satisfied with this decision because prison sentences are, according to them, too rare in this type of case.