In Odesa region, police open proceedings over dog rape

Police investigators in Odesa region have opened a criminal investigation into the ill-treatment of a dog in the village of Mayory.

According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, a man committed sexual assault on an animal in a private household.

Law enforcement officers identified the person involved in the crime. Police investigators initiated criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 299 (cruelty to animals) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. If found guilty, the man faces up to eight years in prison.

The incident was reported by a number of animal rights activists who claimed that the suspect's neighbors had called the police, but that the law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene did not take any action. The activists also visited the suspects and filmed a video of their confession. According to the activists, the man was not acting alone, but in a company that could include two to three people.

It should be noted that over the past decade, the Prosecutor General's Office in Ukraine has recorded 1,599 criminal offenses related to animal cruelty. There are already sentences with real prison terms. In 2024, 178 cases were opened under Article 299 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which exceeded the previous figure of 175 proceedings. The number of cases increased especially after the introduction of new fines in 2018, and in 2021, the penalty for this crime was increased to possible imprisonment. However, due to the war, there was no increased growth in verdicts and proceedings in this category.

Only one in five cases goes to trial, while in 2022-2023, one in four cases was considered.

The court registry has already included cases where accusers of animal cruelty received real prison terms. However, most of the sentences are suspended. For example, in Odesa, a man stabbed a stray dog twice in the neck, causing its death, and received a 5-year suspended sentence.

Кирило Бойко