Hunting accident must be reassessed

During a driven hunt, a dog running loose near a farmstead injured a goat. At the Federal Court's behest, the Aargau judiciary must once again examine whether the hobby hunter acted negligently and is liable for the damage caused.

On 30 November 2013, a hobby hunter took part in a group hunt with several dogs. In the course of this driven hunt, one of his dogs bit a free-roaming goat in a forest near a farmstead. The animal was so severely injured by the dog bites that it had to be put down. The goat's owner filed a complaint against the dog owner. Initially, the Rheinfelden-Laufenburg public prosecutor's office convicted the hobby hunter of violating animal husbandry regulations and fined him 300 francs. The hobby hunter was accused of having failed to fulfil his supervisory duty and his responsibilities as a dog owner.

Damages of 5’000 francs claimed

The hobby hunter lodged an objection, which is why the case was later referred to the Rheinfelden District Court. This court acquitted the hobby hunter of the charges of negligent violation of the Animal Welfare Act and violation of the Aargau Dog Act. The court referred the goat owner's claim for damages of over 5’070 francs to the civil courts.

Free roaming in the forest

An appeal filed against this decision at the Canton of Aargau's Court of Appeal was unsuccessful. The court found that the indictment was insufficient and did not provide grounds for a conviction. In particular, it was not established what precautions the hobby hunter should have taken to protect the woman's goats — which, according to the indictment, were roaming freely in the forest rather than in their enclosure — from being endangered by hunting dogs. The question also arose as to whether the hobby hunter could reasonably have been expected to anticipate the presence of free-roaming goats in the forest.

Federal Court refers case back

The Federal Court has now upheld a complaint filed by the goat keeper against this ruling. In the opinion of the Lausanne judges, the Court of Appeal should have overturned the Rheinfelden District Court's decision — given the unclear and incomplete indictment — and referred it back to the lower instances for completion. This will now be rectified: the case is being sent back to the Court of Appeal, which must conduct further investigations and then refer the matter back to the public prosecutor's office for the indictment to be completed. The hobby hunter must pay the court costs of 3’000 francs. The goat keeper will receive 1’500 francs each from the canton and from the hobby hunter for the Federal Court proceedings, as reported by the Aargauer Zeitung.

Judgment 6B_910/2017 from 29.12.2017 | More on Crime and hobby hunting and on the Hunting Act