Fatal bite attack

Owner may keep dogs again in future

The accused owner in court.

(Bild: Dostal Harald, Krone KREATIV)

Following the fatal bite attack by several American Staffordshire terriers on a female jogger in Naarn in Upper Austria in October 2023, the mayor issued a notice banning the dog owner from keeping her four American Staffordshire terriers and all other dogs of this breed. This decision has now been partially revoked.

The fatal dog attack in Naarn was also dealt with by the Linz Provincial Administrative Court on Wednesday. The mayor had issued a decision banning the keeping of the four American Staffordshire Terriers and all other dogs of this breed. The dog owner lodged an appeal against this decision.

On the basis of the procedural documents and the public hearing, the court came to the conclusion that the decision was to be confirmed with regard to the four named American Staffordshire Terriers. The Dog Keeping Act states: "The keeping of a dog shall be prohibited if the owner is not able to keep the dog in such a way as to prevent danger or unreasonable nuisance to people and animals."

This decision is incomprehensible to the public. Here, the individual dog is portrayed as 'the guilty party', but the fault lies with the owner - and she is now allowed to keep dogs again.

Tierecke-Chefin Maggie Entenfellner

Not legally possible
With regard to the ban on keeping all dogs of the American Staffordshire Terrier breed, however, the decision had to be corrected. According to the version currently in force, bans on keeping dogs can only ever be issued with regard to a specific dog. According to the current legal situation, it is not possible to impose a ban on a person with regard to certain breeds or a general ban on keeping dogs. In other words, the owner may have dogs again in the future.