Prosecutors have sought prison terms for a group indicted on charges of firing BB guns at dogs in the yard of a restaurant in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, last June.
According to the legal community Wednesday, prosecutors sought two years in prison each for two people in their 20s, identified as A and B, indicted on charges including aggravated property damage, at a final hearing presided over by Judge Kim Eun-soo of the Criminal Division 5 (single-judge bench) at the Busan District Court's Eastern Branch. Prosecutors sought one year and six months in prison for C, also in their 20s, who was indicted on the same charges. At the time of the incident, B and C were serving in the military.
The three are accused of breaking into the yard of a restaurant in Il-un-myeon, Geoje, on June 8 last year and firing thousands of BB pellets at three dogs for 37 minutes. While filming a video at the time, they fired the pellets, shouting, "Shoot the forehead, the forehead," and "You're dead today, hey! Try acting up again."
As a result of the crime, a 7-year-old dog named "Somsomi" was taken to a hospital covered in bruises but died. However, because it was not clearly proven whether Somsomi's death was caused by the BB pellet firing, this part was excluded from the charges.
Another dog, "Maehwa," had one of its eyeballs removed, and "Kkae," which had been ailing, also showed abnormal symptoms and eventually died last May.
The court is scheduled to hand down its verdict on Aug. 18.
