The defendant sold eight dogs, including the Bolonka Zwetna, to the injured parties between October 2019 and October 2020. © Symbolic image: Panthermedia
Greifenberg – Having a dog as a pet is a big dream for many families. With certain demands on the breed or husbandry, they look for suitable breeders and can soon take their four-legged family member home with them. The eight victims, who were summoned as witnesses in the Landsberg district court, also wanted a four-legged friend. They bought their dog from a breeder in Greifenberg. But according to the indictment, not all dogs were purebred nor from a lover breed, as the breeder had stated at the time of purchase. As a result, she was charged with eight counts of commercial fraud.
The puppies that the defendant placed between October 2019 and October 2020 were to be vaccinated, chipped and dewormed. In addition, they should have been purebred and bred in Greifenberg – according to the description on the Internet. In reality, the defendant, a 55-year-old woman from Greifenberg, is said to have taken the dogs from a forced breeding facility in the Czech Republic. In Germany, she then sold the puppies as "purebred" and "healthy" and earned around 9,246 euros, sending around 450 euros per dog to the Czech suppliers – according to the prosecutor's indictment.
Perfectly healthy?
The first witness, the defendant's veterinarian, who issued the health certificates for the animals, was sure that the puppies were healthy. "If I filled out the certificates, then the dogs were healthy," he told Judge Katrin Prechtel.
But the dogs were sick, the other seven witnesses, all buyers of the defendant, testified. A witness explained that her dog had been a permanent guest at the veterinarian after the purchase. "She almost died." A single-celled organism, which occurs in dogs especially when they live in a confined space with other dogs, has caused severe vomiting and diarrhea. The Labrador of another witness had kennel cough and a contagious skin fungus after the pick-up. According to witnesses, the other dogs also suffered from diseases that could be traced back to an inappropriate attitude. A dog was so badly ill that he died shortly after pickup: The veterinarian had also found single-celled organisms in the intestines of "Luki", the witness explained. "He died during the operation." When Prechtel asked what the buyers would have done if the dogs had not been purebred or bred, the answer was unanimous. "If I had known that, I wouldn't have taken him."
That the dogs were healthy when they were in the care of the breeder, asserted defense attorney Benedict Heinemann. The court was able to refute this, because the single-celled organism, which caused gastrointestinal problems in the dogs, has a long incubation period, as was established in the course of the trial. Therefore, the dogs must have been sick even before the sale, in the care of the accused.
The prosecutor was also sure in the closing argument: The puppies come from Eastern Europe. He could not prove the Czech origin of the dogs, but there were indications: The defendant had been in contact with the suppliers and often drove across the border. In addition, the dogs had diseases that were often found in Eastern Europe. The breeder also lied about the breeds: the animals were, as a test showed, rarely purebred.
Judge Prechtel also held these views and sentenced the 55-year-old to a total prison sentence of two years and six months. In addition, it ordered compensation of 8,290 euros, the calculated damage caused by the fraud as a whole. The verdict is not yet final.