Drama of Naarn

15-month partially suspended sentence for dog owner

The media interest in the trial was enormous.(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024, Krone KREATIV)

On Thursday, a 38-year-old woman from Mühlviertel was sentenced to 15 months in prison for gross negligence manslaughter at the regional court in Linz. She had been walking three American Staffordshire terriers in Naarn when they attacked and killed a jogger (60). The defendant accepted responsibility for the tragedy for the first time at the trial.

The bloody drama in Naarn made headlines across Austria: on October 2, the jogger Herta A. (60) - she was a neighbor - was attacked and literally mauled by the three Amstaff terriers. The dog owner had obviously not been able to prevent the accident, but did not plead guilty for a long time.

The media interest in the trial was enormous.(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024, Krone KREATIV)

The defendant took responsibility for the tragedy for the first time at the trial.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Husband could only identify victim by her clothes
Her husband had not even noticed the incident at first, but was worried because she could not be reached by phone. He asked his boss if he could go home because he was afraid that something had happened to his wife. The sad certainty followed: The man could only identify his wife by her clothes.

Discussion about fighting and list dogs
As a result, a huge debate broke out about so-called fighting and list dogs. Of the approximately 82,000 four-legged friends in Upper Austria, more than 1100 are American Staffordshire, or "Amstaff" for short.

The trial at the regional court in Linz was over after half an hour. The sentence: 15 months imprisonment, five of them unconditional. The sentence is already final.