The Dog Abuse case

Over the past few days we received many letters from around the world on dog abuse case in Lithuania (see video here). We are grateful to all those who are concerned about this incident and we want to assure everyone that this case actually resulted in a significant resonance in Lithuania (1st link, 2nd link below...), and a person charged with this crime is identified and will shortly be arrested and tried.


First of all, the person who published the video, Valdas Baranauskas, is merely a re-publisher and might not be directly connected to the crime. The person with a dog in his hands is a 22-years old Svaj?nas Beniukas of a small Seredžius town (district of Jurbarkas). The dislike of animals he appears to have is linked to infamous history of animal abuse in his family: just a two years ago his grandfather killed a cat by throwing it over to an aggressive dog. Unfortunately, he was fined 20 LTL (8,5 USD) only – Lithuanian laws in that sense are very mild.

Svaj?nas Beniukas is well-known to local police. He is unemployed, drinks regurlarly and has been involved in many local conflicts – he is a known town roughneck. He previously was charged with theft in Kaunas and Jurbarkas districts.

The dog condition:
The dog in the video survived, but its condition is very serious. At present, the dog which is estimated to be appr. 3-4 years old is in an animal care service "Nuaras" in Kaunas. Done X-ray showed some of them bones cracked, ties missing. Vets are mostly worried about the consequences of injuries to internal organs.

So far, the dog did not eat or drink; it also receives anti-inflammatory drugs. Over the next two days, it will become known whether the dog will survive or should be euthanized.

Both "Nuaras" staff and we at Animal Rights Lithuania receive numerous calls or emails from concerned people. They offer their assistance, many want to take care of a dog when it will be healthy.

"Nuaras" veterinarian says: "The dog abuse footage was made this weekend, I guess. For some time the dog was lying under a bridge. Then it was found by one man who took the dog to the police, and then it was redirected to our animal care center."

Lithuanian laws on animal abuse:
Clearly, penalties for animal abuse in Lithuania are too soft. Despite many known cases of animal abuse, the highest punishment given in the recent years was a fine of 300 LTL (130 USD) given to a woman who threw a dog out of a car. The police usually only warns ill-behaved people.

Sincerely Yours

Animal Rights Lithuania