Hania puppy killer arrested on DNA evidence
A man who skinned two stray puppies, removed their nails and hung them last August in Hania on the island of Crete was arrested on Wednesday after he was identified by police forensics teams via DNA testing.
It was the first time police had used DNA analysis to track down a suspect connected with animal cruelty.
The man, who is a livestock breeder and was a prime suspect for animal rights activists from the outset, was fined 60,000 euros.
The case, however, will be tried as a misdemeanor as the act was committed before new legislation was passed making the torture and killing of animals a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Speaking to Skai TV, the president of the Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation, Natasa Bombolaki, who lives on Crete, thanked the police department of Hania “because all this time it treated the incident as a homicide.”
However, she bemoaned that his crime will not be tried as a felony.
“We will fight at least for the non-suspensive nature of the sentence,” she insisted, while saying she has received threats from the perpetrator.
