In addition to people, sometimes animals are the main characters in cases handled by police or the courts.
In a dispute over insurance reimbursements handled by Miaoli District Court, the cause of the incident was a bird. A man surnamed Lien driving his wife to pray at the temple on his scooter drove into a bird on the way there. He injured his left eye, but at first he thought everything was fine and only washed the injury with water and used eye drops, thinking the injury would heal in a few days. Unexpectedly, he gradually lost his vision in the eye, and it was only when he went to the doctor that it was discovered that the optic nerve had atrophied, which, according to the diagnosis, was “traumatic glaucoma leading to permanent loss of vision.”
Lien’s application for disability benefits was denied, and the courts then decided against the insurance company and said it should pay NT$600,000 in benefits.
The Miaoli District Court has also reviewed a case where a hungry man caught a stray chicken and cooked it and ate it. The chicken was the victim, and the man was convicted of taking wrongful possession of lost property and given a fine of NT$9,000.
Compared to the chicken, Mrs Liu’s giant mottled eel was much luckier. When her husband was fishing for shrimp in a creek 10 years ago, a giant mottled eel swam into the shrimp trap, and he decided to keep it as a pet. The couple cared for the eel as if it was a member of the family, and when her husband was about to pass away, he instructed his wife to take good care of it. Mrs Liu fed it and it now weighs about 6kg.
The situation was reported to the agricultural authorities, which went together with police to confiscate the fish. Mrs Liu pleaded with them not to take the eel away, and said that if they did, they could just as well take the ashes of her deceased husband with them as well. The officials and the police didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, but luckily, according to the regulations of the Animal Protection Act, all she had to do was to register the pet to be allowed to keep it. Mrs Liu was fined NT$3,000, and the giant mottled eel could stay with its mistress.
A man in Touwu Township, Miaoli County surnamed Lai almost went to jail over a tiger. He spent NT$40,000 to buy tiger penis and tiger claws to strengthen himself, but before he could soak the tiger parts in alcohol, they were confiscated by police and the case was submitted to court on suspicion of violations against the Animal Protection Act. An investigation by the Council of Agricultural Affairs, however, discovered that the tiger parts were fake, and were really made from ox bones and ox penis. The prosecutor dismissed the case against the lucky Mr Lai.
Among cases involving animals, dog litigation is most common.
A man surnamed Lien from Houlong Township, also in Miaoli County, was almost brought to court for stepping in dog feces. When he arrived at the railway station in Fengfu to catch a train, he stepped in dog feces. He took a few paper napkins at the door to the power relay building to wipe it off his shoe. In doing so, he left a fingerprint. Coincidentally, power cables had been stolen from the building, and police submitted a case to the court against Lien on suspicion of theft. Luckily for Lien, the prosecutor thought that one fingerprint could only prove that he had touched the napkin box, and that this could not be extended into charges of stealing the power cables, and the case was dismissed.
However, a man surnamed Huang from Tongsiao Township in Miaoli County was given a heavy sentence for being too kind to dogs. After bumping into a man surnamed Li at a KTV, the two started arguing. At the time, Huang was holding a dog in his arms. He first put the dog in his car outside the KTV, and then he incited a crowd of people to beat Li to a pulp. The judge in Miaoli District Court felt that Huang’s care for the dog by far exceeded his respect for people and sentenced Huang to three years and six months in prison for aggravated assault.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON)
警方或是司法機關所辦的案件,除了當事人是主角,有時動物也來參一腳!
苗栗地方法院曾審理一樁保險理賠糾紛,肇事者竟是一隻鳥。連姓男子騎機車載妻子到廟裡拜拜,途中遭飛鳥撞擊,傷及左眼,原本不以為意,只用水沖洗傷口並自行點眼藥水,心想休養數日就可痊癒。未料左眼逐漸喪失視力,到醫院檢查才發現視神經已萎縮,被診斷為外傷性青光眼導致永久性失明。
連某申請殘廢給付被拒,法官判決保險公司敗訴,應依約理賠六十萬元。
苗栗地院也審理過走失土雞被嘴饞男子抓回家烤來吃的案子,這隻倒楣的土雞成了被害者,男子被依侵占遺失物罪判處罰金九千元。
比起這隻土雞,劉姓婦人飼養的鱸鰻幸運多了。十多年前,劉婦的丈夫在溪裡捕蝦時,這隻鱸鰻溜進蝦簍,他帶回家當寵物飼養,疼愛有如家人,臨終時還特別囑咐老婆好好照顧牠。劉婦細心餵養,已重約十台斤。
農政單位接獲檢舉,會同警方查獲。劉婦苦苦哀求不要帶走牠,否則就連老公骨灰一起帶走,讓官員與警方啼笑皆非。還好依野生動物保育法規定,只要補辦登記,仍可繼續飼養,劉婦僅被罰款三千元,鱸鰻得以留在女主人身邊。
苗栗縣頭屋鄉賴姓男子,差點因老虎惹上牢獄之災。他花四萬元向人購買虎鞭、虎掌想要補身,還沒浸泡藥酒就被警方查獲,依違反野生動物保育法罪嫌送辦。農委會鑑定後卻發現其實是用牛骨、牛鞭製成的假貨,被「虎爛」的賴某因禍得福,獲檢察官不起訴處分。
其實牽扯到動物的案件,以狗官司最常見。
苗栗縣後龍鎮連姓男子因為踩到狗屎,險些吃官司。他到豐富火車站搭車時,踩到一坨狗屎,順手從繼電室門口的面紙盒抽出面紙擦鞋,因此留下一枚指紋。不巧,繼電室電纜線遭竊,警方依竊盜罪嫌將他送辦。還好檢察官認為光憑一枚指紋,只能證明連某觸摸過面紙盒,不能據此推論電纜線就是他偷的,予以不起訴處分。
但對狗太好,卻讓苗栗縣通霄鎮黃姓男子被判重刑。他在KTV酒店與李姓男子因身體擦撞口角,當時他懷中抱著小狗,先將狗兒抱到店外車上,再糾眾將李某打成癱瘓。苗栗地院法官認為他對狗的疼惜,遠重於對人的尊重,依重傷害罪判刑三年六個月。
(自由時報記者傅潮標)
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