The State Duma supported the introduction of fines for dog bites. Amendments were made to the bill on administrative liability for improper treatment of pets. For bites and damage to property, citizens will pay from 10 to 30 thousand rubles, officials – from 50 to 100 thousand, organizations – from 100 to 200 thousand.

The numbers are impressive, but let’s see if there is a need for such a solution.

The first and most important thing to know: the vast majority of people suffer from the bites of domestic, not stray dogs, contrary to popular myth. The spread of statistical data is quite large, but this fact is not refuted by any publication and not a single researcher. Almost all the high-profile cases that we read about in the newspapers (“a homeless flock attacked NN”) are about pets on their own, anyone can google statistics and investigations, all information is open.

Now the same State Duma has adopted in the first reading a law according to which stray dogs will be euthanized in a number of regions. That is, amendments have been made to the law on OSSV, according to which regional and municipal authorities will be able to make a decision on euthanasia, rather than sterilization and release of animals. And this is a kind of revolution, and with an inhuman color: in recent years, euthanasia of animals has been banned throughout Russia.

I will translate into Russian: the statistics on biting by domestic dogs is growing, and the authorities are planning to euthanize strays.

With them, of course, there are fewer problems, they will not object, no one will run to court and there will be no problems. And, by the way, what is written on paper – about humane and painless methods of euthanasia – is a separate conversation. More than a dozen materials in the media came out on the topic – how they actually get rid of the lives of unfortunate stray dogs in deep regions. How the conditions of municipal tenders and all conceivable and unimaginable norms are violated, how painful deaths die animals that the state allowed to kill. Actually, that’s why the law on OSSV was adopted, which is now being amended at the initiative of individual governors. But this column is not about that.

And about the fact that the statistics on dog attacks on the streets are really frightening in places. And one of the main reasons, in my opinion, is the lack of responsibility of owners for their animals. Now a negligent owner whose dog bites a passerby will pay from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles for a precedent. Meanwhile, for example, in the southern regions, animals on their own are the norm. In the private sector, where the vast majority of attacks are recorded, the owner’s dog running around without supervision is quite common.

And with the introduction of fines, this situation can be radically reversed.

Moreover, this is how they dealt with the problem in Europe. Penalties for improper treatment there are much higher than our legislator plans to introduce.

I am deeply convinced that the owner is always to blame for the aggressive behavior of dogs. And until recently, there was practically no provision for liability.

The author of this column is categorically against the euthanasia of stray dogs – both because she has carefully studied the statistics and because she knows how many government initiatives are being implemented in our country. In Soviet times, this was called “excesses in the field.”

And the author of this column, being, by the way, the owner of a dog, warmly welcomes the idea of ​​imposing fines. Finally, the responsibility will be borne by those who should bear it – lazy and disorganized owners. Perhaps, before getting an animal and letting it run into the yard, someone will think: is it necessary.

And from this unfortunate dogs and bitten people in our country will become less.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.