VIDEO: A Dog Dragged by a Car in Gyumri

Reports and visuals of animal cruelty continue to circulate online. According to Econews.am, a video shared on the page of the NGO "Dingo Team" shows evident cruelty towards a dog, as it is dragged behind a car.

"In the city of Gyumri on Koshtoyan Street, a citizen witnessed how a dog was being dragged by a car while tied. The dog initially ran but then collapsed from exhaustion. It was dragged like this for quite a while, until the rope was released from inside the car, and they drove off. The rope was tied so tightly around the dog's neck that it was deeply embedded into the flesh. A citizen, unable to remove the rope himself due to the dog’s aggressive behavior, called 911. The firefighters restrained the dog with special tools, sedated it, removed the rope, and then released it. We do not know where the dog is now. The license plate of the perpetrator's car is 35un093, make: Opel," stated "Dingo Team."

From the "Dingo Team" NGO, we learned that the report was received anonymously on October 4. According to Article 92 of the Administrative Offenses Code of Armenia, cruelty towards animals results in administrative liability. Article 92 states: "Cruel treatment of animals that leads to their destruction or mutilation, as well as torturing animals, entails a fine for citizens ranging from fifteen to fifty times the minimum wage, and eighty to one hundred times the minimum wage for officials." According to EcoNews.am, the vehicle with license plate "35un093" is registered under citizen Ishkhan Garnik Petrosyan, who resides in the community of Getashen, Armavir region. A public search into the online data of 26-year-old Ishkhan Petrosyan also uncovered an image showing blood stains on the animal.

Edmon Zargaryan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, informed EcoNews.am that the emergency service received a call about an aggressive dog on October 4. The rescuers took the animal to a safe, non-populated area; however, its current whereabouts remain unknown. The video clearly demonstrates an act of cruel crime, for which current Armenian legislation only provides for administrative liability.

It is worth noting that the National Assembly has passed the draft law criminalizing animal cruelty introduced by the members of the “Prosperous Armenia” faction in the first reading. The proposed legislation classifies acts of cruelty towards animals as the interruption of the animal’s life through mutilation, hanging, dismemberment, severe beating, whipping, shooting with a powerful weapon, poisoning, or injecting substances leading to cruel or painful death, as well as skinning a live animal, amputation, throwing a live animal into fire, or throwing it from heights or vehicles.