Owners or temporary owners of dangerous or aggressive dogs face a fine of up to 5,000 lei if the animals are walked in public places without a muzzle and are not kept on a collar and leash, a project approved on Monday by the Senate aimed at supplementing GEO No. 55/2002, reports Agerpres.

“After the introduction of this legislative change, the procedure for applying sanctions for non-declaration and non-compliance with the conditions of ownership of a dangerous or aggressive dog will be strengthened in accordance with the current legislation. Also, police checks in public places in order to comply with GEO 55/2002 will be able to become more effective, which will lead to a decrease in cases of attacks on people by dangerous dogs without a leash and a muzzle”, – note the initiators, PSD deputies. Nicolae Georgescu, Laura-Catalina Vicol-Corba and Eugene Neatse.

The fines provided by the draft increase to 500-1000 lei and can reach 3000-5000 lei, compared to those provided for in GEO No. 55/2022, which started from 100-500 lei and reached 1500-3000 lei.

“Due to ignorance or ignorance of the current legal provisions in public places in Romania, we almost everywhere meet owners of dangerous dogs (…), by which we mean dogs of the following breeds, grouped into two categories: a) category 1: fighting and fighting dogs, compared to dogs of the pit bull, boer bull, bandog and their hybrids in terms of morphological characteristics; b) Category 11: dogs of the American Staffordshire Terrier, Tosa, Rottweiler, Dogo Argentino, Neapolitan Mastino, Fila Brasileiro, Mastiff, Caucasian Shepherd Dog, Cane Corso and their hybrids,” the motivational documentation states.

According to the initiator, such situations are registered frequently, despite the provisions of GEO 55/2002, according to which “access of dogs (…) to the common parts of buildings where they are kept, on public roads and to their entrances is only allowed provided they wear a muzzle and are held by the owner or temporary keeper in a collar and leash or harness.”

The Senate is the first legislative chamber in question.

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