Experts welcome new rules for owners of aggressive dogs
Sunday 20th September 2026 on 19:15 in
Latvia
Latvia has approved rules governing dogs that have attacked people or other animals, LSM reported. The regulations, drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture, establish the procedure for handling such animals and the obligations imposed on their owners.
For more than eight months, there had been no precise procedure for dealing with a dog that had bitten a person or another animal. The previous Cabinet regulations expired in January, leaving many victims hoping that attacking dogs would be restricted from causing further harm.
The issue drew renewed attention after photographs of two large dogs that had escaped from a yard and were running alongside a road sparked widespread discussion among residents of Garkalne, in Ropaži municipality, last weekend.
Concern was heightened by recent incidents in which children at a kindergarten in Carnikava were bitten by dogs. Residents said the dogs shown in the photographs had previously mauled at least two other dogs.
A woman who asked to remain anonymous said the two very large dogs, which she described as wolf dogs, had attacked her and her small dog while she was walking past them with their owner.
She said the dogs knocked their owner to the ground, broke free of their leashes and attacked. The woman tried to drive them away, but her hands were bitten and her dog was mauled. She and her dog were taken to a clinic, while police who arrived at the scene told her the matter should be resolved through negotiations.
About a year later, the same dogs mauled a neighbour’s dog, she said. In both cases, the owners reached agreements on financial compensation. After the second incident, the owner of the killed dog also reported the matter to the Food and Veterinary Service, which classified the dogs as dangerous in 2023.
However, residents still occasionally see the same dogs walking without their owners. The Ropaži municipality did not disclose how many complaints it had received about the animals.
The Food and Veterinary Service said that owners can be fined if an animal is roaming freely, and that such cases should be reported to the municipality.