Man who looked after the dogs that killed a woman in Dolna Oryahovitsa was charged

The district prosecutor's office in Veliko Tarnovo on March 31 charged the man who was looking after dogs that mauled to death a 40-year-old woman in Dolna Oryahovitsa yesterday.

He has been in custody for up to 72 hours and the court is expected to consider the prosecution's request for his remand tomorrow. The man is accused of not taking proper care of the animals.

The owner of the dogs is abroad but will be summoned for questioning.

The five dogs, which attacked the woman while she was coming home from a night duty at the hospital in Gorna Oryahovitsa, have been euthanised as the investigation requires forensic tests to establish the contents of their digestive systems.

The Mayor of Dolna Oryahovitsa yesterday told BNT that he has repeatedly spoken to the owner of the aggressive dogs, but the law ties my hands. He said he would initiate a meeting with state institutions and animal welfare organizations to take more adequate measures against irresponsible owners.

"There are no official complaints filed with me about these dogs, but I will not hide my head in the sand. People have told me about these dogs. I went to talk, to insist, to literally quarrel with the owner so that he can take them home, and then he takes measures, takes them home and apparently after a while he lets them go again," Yordan Baichev explained on BNT’s morning programme “The Day Begins”.

"Today it became clear that the woman's death was the result of acute, profuse blood loss, which occurred as a result of multiple traumas caused by animals, the dogs in question. This circumstance necessitated a change in the original direction of the investigation from premeditated murder to a reclassification of the offense under a text that provides for punishment for any person in whose care a vertebrate animal is found, which animal causes bodily injury and results in the death of another person. The punishment envisaged is up to 5 years of imprisonment, as well as a fine of up to BGN 10 000," said supervising prosecutor Daniela Kharitonova.