Hunter accidentally shoots pony and gets away without punishment
Schwertfegen - A young hunter from Austria shot a pony in December because he mistook it for a wild boar. The decision of the responsible public prosecutor's office surprised the former owners.
According to Heute.at, the 21-year-old was hunting wild boar at night in the village of Schwertfegen when the mishap happened to him.
He was relying on a night-vision device approved for hunting, but mistook the pony grazing in the paddock for a wild boar.
As a result of this fatal mistake and the subsequent shot, the animal had to be put down and the shooter was banned from using firearms for the time being.
The family who owned the pony pressed charges against him and spoke out about the killing of their beloved "Bichette".
"Alongside my parents, she is the animal that has been with me the longest," said vet Sabine Sipos, remembering the deceased four-legged friend.
The responsible public prosecutor's office in St. Pölten has now surprisingly announced that there will be no preliminary proceedings. "No criminal offense has been committed," said spokesman Leopold Bien. The former pony owner Sipos sees the decision of the judiciary as a kind of "carte blanche".
The shooter could lose his hunting license
However, the young man will not get away without any consequences: In addition to the provisional weapons ban, proceedings have been initiated by the St. Pölten district authority.
Nothing is legally binding yet, but this could mean the loss of the 21-year-old's hunting license.