Seven dogs on board

Styrian police stop illegal animal transport

On Monday, police officers from the provincial traffic department stopped a Serbian transporter on the Pyhrn highway in the Leibnitz district: the vehicle was carrying seven dogs - without the necessary documents.

The driver of a van with seven dogs was stopped on the A9 near Spielfeld (Leibnitz district) at around 3.30 p.m. on Monday. According to the Styrian Provincial Police Directorate on Tuesday morning, the 23-year-old was traveling without the required international transport document for the four-legged friends. The electronically readable microchips were missing from four of the animals. The vehicle was also found to have technical defects. The dogs were taken to an animal shelter.

Vehicle in "desolate condition"
According to the police, the driver had started the journey in Bulgaria and arrived in Austria with the dogs via his home country of Serbia. The officers confiscated the license plates of the transporter due to its "desolate condition". The 23-year-old was charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act, the Animal Transportation Act and the Motor Vehicle Act. As prosecution is considered more difficult, a security deposit was collected from him, according to the police.