Two people who brutally tortured a dog at home, killing it, have been sentenced to imprisonment.

The court sentenced both defendants to eight months of imprisonment each and ordered them to participate in a behavioural correction programme during the entire period of imprisonment, the court said.The criminal order was issued at the Raseiniai Chamber of the Šiauliai District Court.

The court found that the defendants A.S. and D.Š. committed the offence of cruelly torturing a dog by joint actions. At home, the accused A.S. deliberately struck the dog named Neron with his hands an unspecified number of times during the pre-trial investigation, and then grabbed the dog's neck with his hand and squeezed it. Later, after the defendant, D. S., had taken a belt and put it around the dog's neck, the two of them together hung the animal on the kitchen door, which resulted in the death of the dog.

During the pre-trial investigation, both defendants confessed and expressed remorse. The man said that he was "babysitting" the dog because it had urinated near the windowsill. He could not specify how many times he had hit the dog and said he could not remember, but not once. He did not want the dog to die, but it happened.

D. Š., a woman who was in the apartment next door, told the pre-trial investigation that it happened on the evening of 16 November 2024. She claimed that she did not hit the dog. However, she hanged it with a belt in order to shorten its suffering and to make it die faster. Later, she put it in garbage bags and threw it in a garbage container.

The mitigating circumstance for both defendants is that they confessed to the offence and expressed sincere remorse. No aggravating circumstances have been established. Both have no criminal record, have committed one minor offence with direct intent, and the offence has been completed.

The defendants did not oppose the conclusion of the proceedings by a criminal order, and accepted the proposed sentence and the amount of the sentence. Since the defendants pleaded guilty, the sentence imposed was reduced by one third.

The Court informed the defendants that if they disagree with the imposition of a sentence of deprivation of liberty by way of a criminal court order, they have the right to file an application for a trial within 14 days of receipt of the document. Once the court's criminal order has entered into force, there shall be no appeal.