Bosnian animal rights group calls on authorities to investigate video of woman killing puppies

Bosnian group urges probe of puppy killing video

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — An animal rights group in Bosnia called on authorities Wednesday to investigate a claim that a disturbing video of a young woman throwing six newborn puppies into a river was filmed in the Balkan country.

The video, which first appeared on YouTube, shows the hooded girl taking the puppies from a white bucket and throwing them, one by one, into a river.

Velimir Ivanisevic from the Association of Citizens for Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals SOS, said his group received an e-mail that allegedly identifies her as a teenager from the central Bosnian town of Bugojno.

“We cannot say with 100 percent certainty that this is true…but we received some other information which leads us to believe that it is,” Ivanisevic said.

He added that the group has called on authorities to investigate the claim.

Bosnia recently adopted an animal protection law instituting fines of between €15 ($12) and €5,000 ($6,400) for private citizens, and between € 100,00 ($78,7) and €100,000 ($128,000) for institutions, for cruel treatment of animals, but Ivanisevic said authorities continue to ignore cases reported by his group.

Police in Bugojno said they were investigating the report, but refused to discuss details.

(This version corrects fine amounts.)