Indictment Filed Against Teen Filmed Brutally Beating Dog in Palestinian Village
An indictment was filed Monday morning against a 16-year-old resident of Ma'ale Adumim who was filmed brutally beating a dog in the Palestinian village of Atara in the West Bank.
During the month of May, police in the Judea and Samaria District received disturbing footage showing the Israeli teen allegedly abusing and beating what appeared to be a dog with wooden sticks in the yard of a Palestinian resident's home in the area. Immediately after receiving the footage, police opened an investigation and took a complaint from the dog's owner. The suspect was located last week, about two weeks after the incident, and was arrested by detectives from the Judea and Samaria District's Lahav unit and Yasam fighters from the Samaria region.
According to the investigation materials, the teen arrived in the yard of the Palestinian's house in Atara village, walked around the compound, and at a certain stage, for no reasonable explanation, began beating the dog with great cruelty. After causing the dog severe injuries, mainly to its head, the suspect left the scene. Police said that during the days of his questioning, the suspect remained silent, but from time to time he "clapped and whistled." Additional investigative steps carried out during those days strengthened and substantiated the suspicions against him.
The commander of the Judea and Samaria District, Chief Superintendent Moshe Pinchi, said last night: "This is a difficult and shocking incident of cruel abuse of an animal, an act that harms basic human values and arouses revulsion and disgust across all parts of society, regardless of sector, religion, ethnicity or nationality. Immediately upon receiving the documentation, a professional and intensive investigation was launched, during which the district police used all the tools at their disposal to locate the suspect, identify him, arrest him and thus bring him to justice."
The owner of Lucy, who was seriously injured, said in an interview with Kan News about three weeks ago that Lucy is only one year old and is a Malinois. "The attacker hit Lucy in the head and legs, he broke her teeth. There was blood everywhere, we were sure she was dead, only afterward did we see that she was able to stand. He kept beating her for more than 10 minutes until he left."
Describing Lucy's injuries, the owner said the family feared the attacker might also harm them, so they did not confront him: "We filmed him without going out to him because we do not want trouble. Today they beat our dog, tomorrow they will beat my son or his wife. We want the police to protect us too. He tried to kill the dog, which is a guard dog, in order to enter my house."
