Russia's children rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has called for introducing licensing for “fighting dogs” after investigators reported pitbulls killing a 2-year-old boy in southern Russia.
People wanting to keep a “fighting dog” should be required to apply for a license or permit, after completing training courses and registering their dogs with the police, Astakhov said via Twitter on Tuesday.
The proposal came after reports from the Stavropol regional branch of the Investigative Committee said two pitbulls attacked and killed a 2-year-old boy in the yard of his house last week.
The boy's mother had left him sleeping in the house when she stepped outside “briefly” to collect an older daughter from school, the Investigative Committee said. The boy woke up, walked outside and was mangled by two pitbulls, the committee said in a statement, adding that the mother found the child dead, with multiple animal bites to his body when she returned home.
Investigators were looking into possible charges, the statement said. It did not identify the owner of the dogs.
The head of the State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, responded to the incident via Twitter, saying that that dog attacks would continue “until the owners of such dogs start facing trial — for murder.”
