A court has fined a man for shooting dead his neighbor’s dog, but also fined the distraught neighbor for calling the man a killer.
The tragic death of Rhodesian Ridgeback Simba filled social media last year, with 100,000 people demanding justice (click here).
José França has now been fined €4,000 by magistrates at Idanha-a-Nova, but Simba’s owner Diogo Castiço was also fined €1,500 for calling França a killer. He is appealing, says his lawyer, who suggests the court needs to “understand the context in which Castiço’s affirmations were made”.
Leaving the court after the judgement on Tuesday, Diogo Castiço said he was disappointed.
“The court considered a dog an object,” he added, alluding to words spoken only a week ago by Justice Minister Francisca Van Dunem, who said animals should be elevated to a status ‘between a thing and a human being” (click here).
