TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A dog owner in Hsinchu City has had his eight-month prison sentence upheld by the Taiwan High Court for a fatal traffic accident the judges believe his dog caused.  

The defendant, surnamed Sun (孫), on Feb. 8, 2020, left his dog “Pudding” to wander onto the street unleashed and unsupervised, according to the court's sentencing document. When the victim, a woman surnamed Wang (王), rode through the area on a scooter, the dog suddenly burst toward her.

Wang was not able to stop in time and fell off her scooter, according to the document. She suffered a serious head injury and died in a hospital several days later.

In addition to reviewing surveillance camera footage obtained near the site, police also collected fur from the scooter’s chassis and a saliva sample from Pudding. A DNA test conducted by the Investigation Bureau found these to be a match.

With this evidence, prosecutors charged Sun with negligent homicide, and Wang’s family filed a lawsuit against him. Sun denied that it was his dog that had caused the fatal accident.

The Hsinchu District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to eight months. Sun appealed the ruling with the Taiwan High Court, insisting that the dog involved in the accident was not his.

The High Court upheld the lower court’s eight-month sentence, stating that Sun should not have let his dog roam the street freely, according to the sentencing document. The court also chided him for denying his guilt, being unwilling to pay damages to the victim’s family, and behaving badly after the offense.

Sun can still appeal the case with the Supreme Court.