On July 25th, a small dog, Spitz, was bitten to death by a large dog, Rottweiler. According to the current Animal Protection Law, 5 breeds of dogs like a Taoist, American PitBull Terrier, and Rottweiler, are designated as dangerous dogs. Such dogs are required to wear leash or muzzle, but the Rottweiler didn’t have such safety device during the incident. It has been pointed out that dangerous dog bite accidents are coming out continuously because of the weakness of punishment for walking those dogs without a muzzle or leash. In order to prevent that kind of accident, the punishment for dangerous dogs without muzzle or leash should be strengthened.
In Korea, the legal punishment for dangerous dog bite accident is too weak. According to the Animal Protection Act, if a person is killed by a dangerous dog, the owner of the dog shall be fined 30 million won or sentenced to at most 3 years in prison. However, other countries’ punishments are different from Korea. For the same crime, Florida and California in the U.S. punish it as a first rate Minor Offenses Act and Homicide. Also, in Britain, the owner is sentenced to at most 14 years in prison. It can be seen that the level of punishment in Korea is very low compared to other countries. Korea also lacks accident prevention compared to foreign countries. Unlike Korea, other countries restrict the breeding of dangerous dogs or inspect the qualifications of their owners. In Britain, dangerous dogs are classified as special controlled dogs by the Dangerous Dogs Act. Thus, court permission is essential to raise those types of dogs. Even after permission is granted, the dog owner receives continuous management from the government. In most areas in Germany, an advanced country for animal rights laws, dangerous dogs can be raised only if they are registered with the city and permission is granted. Also, in some areas, it is required to buy pet liability insurance to prepare for situations when a pet harms other people. As such, many countries give full attention to dangerous dog owners and try to select only responsible ones. In order to prevent dangerous dog bite accidents in advance, the government should also make efforts to restrict the breeding of dangerous dogs and properly manage dog owners.
In 2019, a dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, posted a video warning about the aggressiveness of the Rottweilers on ‘Kang Hyung-wook's Embrace TV’ YouTube channel. He told Rottweiler owners that they should have strong responsibility and do muzzle training with their dogs. According to the Korea Animal Rights Advocates, the primary cause of dangerous dog bites is not wearing a leash or a muzzle. Under the current law, Korea has no restrictions on the breeding of those dogs or verification of their owners. Thus, the punishment for the dog not wearing a muzzle and leash should at least be strengthened. CAH hopes that dog muzzle and leash laws and punishments will be strengthened from now on so that dangerous dog bite accidents would no longer occur.