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By Bahk Eun-ji
An owner of dogs has been sentenced to six months in prison after allowing her unleashed dogs to bite people several times while out on walks.
According to the Uijeongbu District Court, the woman in her 80s was charged with violating the Animal Protection Act and negligence. Along with the jail term, she was also fined 4 million won ($334).
The woman went out with two of her four Jindo dogs without a leash in January last year and one of them bit a merchant on the ankle.
A month later, she did nothing when she saw her dog go out alone, and it eventually bit another passerby on the leg.
Despite the two incidents, the woman still left the dogs unattended, the court said.
In a third incident, one of her dogs ran out when she failed to close the front door properly, and it bit the leg of a passerby.
Last July, rather than leash her dogs properly, she tied two of her dogs to each other with a long rope, and the rope tripped a passerby who was seriously injured and required three weeks of treatment.
After a series of complaints from victims, the woman was eventually brought to trial.
"Considering the circumstances of the crimes, and the method, duration, and degree of injuries, we took into account the fact that the defendant's acts are serious crimes. The woman also has a history of being punished for the same crime several times, and has not even sought forgiveness from the victims," the court said in a ruling.