Dogs Rescued From Abusers Still Waiting 28 Months for Court Ruling in Shelter

Two dogs, Xanadu and Stafori, have been living for 28 months at an animal shelter in Pilsen run by the city police. Both were seized from their owners over cruelty allegations. They cannot be handed over to new owners until the court case concludes — and the proceedings have dragged on longer than anything the shelter has seen before.

"There's interest in Xanadu and Stafori, but we can't offer them for adoption yet — the trial hasn't ended, and these two dogs are part of it," said Petr Kokoška, head of the shelter for animals in distress. According to him, time is running short: the female is already nine years old, the male three years older still. "As soon as it becomes possible, we'll place them with new owners very quickly. Everyone interested in them already knows what these animals have been through," he added.

A Year of Starvation in a Private House

The dogs barely survived in a private house in Pilsen's Litice district. According to the Pilsen city police press office, both animals were extremely emaciated and exhausted, suffering the severe consequences of prolonged neglect. Xanadu weighed just 8.5 kilograms; she now weighs 12.3. Stafori arrived at the shelter weighing 9.7 kilograms and has since gained another five.

The dogs had been starving for about a year. They were seized in April 2024 from a 35-year-old woman and her husband, a year older than her. The dogs' livers were failing, they suffered from anemia, and it was unclear whether they would survive. The couple faces up to five years in prison for prolonged and cruel mistreatment of animals. A final verdict is expected in the coming weeks.

A Petition to Change the Law

Such problems could be resolved by amending the legislation — a cause championed by, among others, the non-profit organization Dogpoint, which runs a shelter in Lhotka, Central Bohemia. A month ago, the organization launched a petition that has already gathered more than 16,000 signatures. "It's been more successful than we expected," said the organization's director, Michaela Zemanková.

"The more people know about this problem, the better. People often have no idea what happens after animals are seized. They get the impression that the animal has been saved, and for them, that's the end of the story. They don't know what comes next — that in some cases, animals can't go anywhere for years," Zemanková stressed. According to her, hundreds — possibly as many as a thousand — animals are currently unable to be placed with new owners. "This year alone, we know of eight major cases where dozens of dogs were seized at once," she added.

The State Could Save Money

The petition is meant to support a bill already before the Chamber of Deputies. "Essentially, the idea is that an animal could move to a new home even before the proceedings are finished," Zemanková explained. According to her, if the previous owner remains interested in the animal even after it has been seized, they should have to pay for its care at the shelter — for a medium-sized dog, that could amount to several thousand crowns a month. If they refuse to pay, someone else could take the animal in.

In an ideal scenario, the bill could be passed as early as this year. "I think politicians could listen to this argument, if only because it would let the state save considerable money that's currently spent keeping seized animals in shelters," Zemanková concluded.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz