UAE: Charges dropped against dog owner who attacked family in Fujairah

FUJAIRAH: The Fujairah Court of Appeal has quashed a judgment against a dog owner fined Dh10,000 for keeping a dog without a license.

The court also amended a ruling to fine the defendant’s sister and her friend Dh10,000 each for walking the dog without a proper collar.

The case arose from an incident in December 2022 when a government hospital reported to the Fujairah police that a woman and her two children were attacked by a dog, injuring them. Police identified the girl walking her dog on the beach where the incident occurred. They were handed over to the Public Prosecution Authority.

The public prosecution accused all three defendants – the dog owner, his sister and her friend – of possessing animals (dogs) without the permission of the competent authorities, while the second and third defendants were charged with Victims cause harm. Negligence, walking the dog without a leash.

The accused denied the charges against them and appealed to the Fujairah Court of Appeal.

The first defendant said the dog was his and it had its own “passport”. He explained that the dog normally stays in the house and doesn’t need a license because it’s not the dangerous type. Defendant 2 (sister of Defendant 1) confirmed that the dog belonged to her brother and that she lived with him, adding that she took the dog outside the house in a car and took it to the sea, and Defendant 3 (her friends) with her. The third defendant said she grabbed the end of the leash while walking the dog.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal explained that, for the first defendant, the Law on the Control of Possession of Dangerous Animals states that “the offenses established by the law do not constitute criminal cases and are punishable only by fines unless they are imposed upon a written request of the Ministry or the competent authority” , adding that it held that “the charges are all interrelated in that possession, unrestrained dog and causing injury are all an offense against the second and third defendants.”

Earlier, the Fujairah Court of First Instance fined a man and two girls for dog attacking a mother and her two children, aged 6 and 11, on Fujairah beach last year.

He was fined Dh10,000 for keeping a dog without a license, while the two women were fined Dh10,000 for endangering their lives. The court ruled they were negligent in controlling the dog in a public place.

Meanwhile, they filed a lawsuit against the mother, accusing her of defamation by posting a video on social media. The mother was summoned by police and her mobile phone was seized by authorities to investigate the incident.

The mother told authorities she did not take the video, which was captured by witnesses and posted on social media. The court acquitted her mother of the charges against her.