“Car owner whose dog was behind the wheel faces a fine.” The news, far-fetched to say the least, was spread by the Slovak media and literally went around the world. For example, the BBC revealed the details and published an excerpt from the speed camera image shared on Facebook by the Slovak police: it shows a “smiling” dog, as the British broadcaster likes to emphasize, with its mouth open. I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of a Skoda car. The owner of the vehicle justified himself by saying that his pet, a brown hunting dog, had suddenly jumped onto his lap and therefore appeared to have taken his place at the wheel of the vehicle in the photo.
A version that, however, did not convince officials in the village of Sterusy, northeast of the Slovakian capital Bratislava, who said the footage showed that there was unlikely to have been any sudden movement in the car. The British media emphasize that it is currently unclear whether the fine was imposed for speeding or for failing to secure the animal in a moving vehicle. What is certain, writes the BBC, is that the police have called on drivers to protect their pets while driving. “Even a small animal can endanger life and health while driving,” warned the police.
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