Donkey owner fined €30,000 after animal dies from abuse in Greece

An animal rights group that specializes in protecting Greece’s donkeys has hailed the decision by an Athens prosecutor to slap a fine of 30,000 euros on a man who allowed his donkey to die of shock and exposure.

“This is the first time that the prosecutor’s office has described this heinous act, the slow and tortuous death of an equine as a result of a heavy form of passive abuse, as a felony,” the Hellenic Donkey Center, a non-profit, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The 75-year-old owner of the donkey in question is accused of tying it to a tree in a field in Koropi, east of Athens, where it became tangled in the rope and died. The incident was reported to the police on Sunday and the donkey’s owner was arrested shortly after.

Two other donkeys owned by the same man and found similarly tied to trees and in very bad shape have been surrendered to the Hellenic Donkey Center.