16-Year-Old from Ma'ale Adumim Charged Over Attack on Palestinian Family’s Dog

The State Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday filed an indictment with the Jerusalem Juvenile Magistrates’ Court against a 16-year-old from Ma'ale Adumim, accusing him of attacking a Palestinian family’s dog in the village of Atara in Samaria and causing the animal serious injuries, on racist grounds. A request was submitted to extend the teenager’s detention until the end of the proceedings against him.

According to the indictment, filed by attorney Shiral Eldar of the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office, the teenager entered the family’s yard on several occasions without their consent. In one incident, in May this year, he entered the yard accompanied by two dogs and holding two sticks. Later, according to the indictment, he attacked the family’s dog and caused it serious injuries that required veterinary treatment and medical observation.

The indictment charges the teenager with cruelty to animals, causing harm to an animal on racist grounds, and trespassing on racist grounds. Because the defendant is a minor, no further information was released about the full indictment and the request to extend his detention. Last week the boy was arrested and taken for questioning in the Judea and Samaria District. His detention was extended by the court.

The dog, Lucy, was transferred for veterinary treatment in Israel after the incident, and her condition stabilized. Police said at the time, “This is a serious and unacceptable offense. We will act with zero tolerance against any expression of violence, toward human beings in general and toward animals in particular.”

About two weeks ago, additional footage circulated on social media showing violence against a Palestinian woman and a dog in the Masafer Yatta area in the southern Hebron Hills. In one video, a young man is seen striking a large white dog several times with a stick, while voices in the background encourage the filming of the act. In another video, he was documented pushing a Palestinian woman to the ground, with a baby beside her. The young man was then seen holding a metal chain attached to a structure, in the presence of another person who filmed what was happening.