The criminal court of Leuven has sentenced a Diest man to two months in prison and an 800 euro fine for maliciously killing a neighbor’s dog. The animal, Ozkar, died from a stab wound in the neck, twelve centimeters deep. A pitchfork that matched the findings of the medical doctors was found at the home of the man in his fifties. He denied, to no avail, that he had anything to do with the facts.
The relationship between Geert S. (57) and Ozkar had been seriously disturbed for years before the fatal incident, as emerged at a hearing in October. “Something must have happened at some point,” said the family’s lawyer at the time. “Ozkar never barked unless on S.” The neighbor then also poured a chemical substance on the four-legged friend and, in another incident, threatened to “smash the animal’s head in”.
On February 17, 2021, Ozkar died in the family garden. A few minutes after a daughter of the family corrected the four-legged friend for barking at the neighbor, she heard him whining. “When she came out, blood was gushing from his neck,” the family’s lawyer said. According to her lawyer, the girl let out a “primal scream” that was heard by several neighbors. The dog died on the way to the vet.
An autopsy showed that Ozkar had been killed violently, neighbor Geert S.’s pitchfork suited as a weapon. However, S. denied having been in the garden at that time, and he also allegedly did not hear the scream of the girl next door. Nevertheless, the court decided to convict S. and also ordered him to pay damages of more than 18,000 euros for the emotional damage he had caused to the neighbors.
