Man arrested for throwing dog at police officer in Japan

It’s not nice to throw things, dogs included.

“Dog bites man” isn’t news, the old saying goes, but “Man bites dog” is. What’s really unusual, though, so unusual that it wasn’t even considered in the adage, is what happened recently in Kobe: Man throws dog.

The incident took place last Tuesday evening in the city’s Hyogo Ward. At around 5 p.m., a passerby on the street noticed a dog with a collar but no visible owner in the vicinity. Since the dog happened to be near a pet-grooming salon, the passerby took the pooch inside, thinking the staff might recognize the Shiba Inu. None of the workers did, though, but when they called the police to see what could be done, the officer who was dispatched had seen the Shiba before.

The same dog had been spotted unattended on the streets once before, and the dispatched officer was the same member of the police force who’d taken it into custody at that time before returning the animal to its owner. Since the officer knew who the owner was, a 55-year-old man who lives in the same ward as the salon, he went to the owner’s house and told him what had happened. They then returned together to the salon, but when they arrived, the man refused to take the Shiba back. “I aint got no need for a dog like this!” the man angrily yelled, commanding “YOU take him to the damn animal shelter!”

According to the police, during his rant the man picked up the dog, which is 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) long and weights 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) and threw the animal at the officer, after which he was placed under arrest.

You might wonder what specific part of the penal code you’ll run afoul of if you start throwing dogs at people. In this case, the crime the man is being charged with is “obstruction of official duties.” It’s a broad offense, similar to Japan’s “forced obstruction of business” charge that’s often used in cases of harmful mischief and mayhem in shops, restaurants, and other places of business.

Neither the dog nor the officer suffered injuries in the incident. The animal showed no visible signs of physical abuse from its owner, but was taken into custody at the police station.

Source: Sun-TV News via Hachima Kiko, Kobe Shimbun Next
Top image: Pakutaso
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