Lawyer bitten by lack of leash on pet dog

Former Ramat Hasharon city prosecutor Nurit Gonen has been fined NIS 700 for letting her dog roam unrestrained in public.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Former Ramat Hasharon city prosecutor Nurit Gonen has been fined NIS 700 for letting her dog roam unrestrained in public, reports www.mynet.co.il. A judge in the Herzliya Magistrates Court fined the lawyer and dismissed her defense arguments, saying that as city prosecutor she had not accepted such arguments from residents charged with similar offenses. According to the report, a municipal inspector photographed the dog roaming around without a leash and tried to catch it, but the animal managed to slip away. Later, the inspector photographed the dog again in Gonen's yard. But when the case came to court, Gonen argued first that the photographs were unclear and the dog was not hers, then that many dogs entered and left her yard, and finally that she was not the registered owner of the dog and could not be charged with the offense. But judge Dr. Shaul Avinor dismissed her arguments, saying he accepted the inspector's photographic and verbal evidence, and that while all dog owners are required to obtain licenses for their pets, even if they do not do so they are still responsible for their animals. He said that if the inspector had succeeded in catching the dog, it would have been placed in the city kennel. The judge imposed a fine of NIS 700 or seven days' imprisonment, saying that this was a first offense and he accepted Gonen's argument that she generally upheld the law. The judge consented to split payment of the fine into two installments.