It is not only four-legged pets that are endangered by anonymous killers with brutal means: if a dog can pick up poison from the ground, a small child can do the same. Is this what those who try to deal with the ebes in such a heartless way think?
Those who torture animals who try to destroy pets in the capital's parks, forests, and public spaces can be sentenced to five years in prison.
Dog owners in the capital experience an unprecedented number of cases where nails, screws, and poisons hidden in hot dogs are lying on the ground, which the dogs can easily pick up without their owners noticing. According to the signs, even the tightening of the Animal Protection Act does not hold back the perpetrators, many do not even know that even preparing to commit the crime is severely punished. In autumn, a large-scale awareness-raising campaign begins under the direction of Péter Ovádi, the government commissioner responsible for animal protection.
This year stands out in terms of attempts at animal poisoning, the capital city's social network groups are pouring out warning posts about where and what kind of baits have been set out for dogs unknown to them. One of the most well-known cases this year happened back in February, when several farmers who were walking their animals on Margitsziget experienced illness in their dogs.
The dogs' behavior became unusual, they trembled and their movements became uncoordinated.
No reports or complaints were received in connection with the cases, but the Budapest Police Headquarters ordered an investigation against an unknown culprit on suspicion of animal cruelty.
The owner of one of the victim's dogs spoke to Metropol, saying that his pet's life was spent in minutes, the three-year-old mudi was saved by the veterinarians with the help of an infusion. According to the dog owners, it is a miracle that the dog survived the incident, a much bigger tragedy could have happened.
Moreover, not only dogs are exposed to this danger, since if a dog can pick up poison from the ground, so can a small child.
Since spring in Józsefváros on Teleki László tér, Mátyás tér and II. Nails hidden in sausages are regularly scattered on Pope János Pál Square. One of the district's veterinary clinics wrote on its social media page that some dogs ate them.
Among the comments, it is written that hot dogs were found in several restaurants in the district.
The XVIII. in the district, new methods were invented to end the lives of dogs.
In the suburbs, they hide screws in holes and scatter them as bait in the Péterhalmi forest. The situation is so serious that dozens of such cases have occurred and almost half a hundred animals have been injured.
In the Castle District, a dog died due to rat poison at a popular dog-walking spot. In Ferencváros, rat poison was also placed on Ferenc tér, the owners found pieces of meat doused with hydrochloric acid in the Boráros tér dog run, and several dogs needed treatment as a result of the chemical. An unknown person scattered poisoned bones in Kőbánya, in the Harmat utca run.
"We are aware of this serious problem." Recently, the government commissioner responsible for animal protection, Péter Ovádi, asked us to organize an attention-raising animal protection campaign, because we received a lot of signals about this. We are currently working on the campaign, which can start in September, said Gabriella Dódity, a Budapest representative. As he added: poisoning animals is severely punished.
Government Commissioner for Animal Protection Péter Ovádi drew attention on his social media page to the fact that from January 1, 2022, the penalty is one to five years in prison if animal cruelty is committed by using poison or by placing baits suitable for killing the animal, causing the death of several animals.
It is important to know that even the preparation for the crime is punishable.
