Be careful! After getting money illegally from a person by pretending to be knocked flat, recently there are some people getting money illegally from a person by pretending to be bitten by pet dog. Lately, a video about new-style swindle is issued by the police office in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. From the video, we can know that, the swindler who is dressed well, specially look for the dogs that are not fastened with ropes. As soon as he find the object, he will throw himself into the dog and pretend to be bitten by the dog. Then, he will say that he have things to do and ask the dog owner to compensate him rather than to go to hospital for an injection.

Actually, it is not new to swindle by pretending to be bitten by the dog. As early as in 2017, it was reported that there are some people swindling by pretending to be bitten by pet dog. So, how should we definite this kind of behaviour?

The article 266 of the criminal law stipulates that, those who swindle relatively large amount public or private property, shall be the crime of fraud. Issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the article one of the explanation on dealing with the application of law of fraud stipulates that, relatively large amount means that the public or private property being swindled values not less than three thousand yuan and even over ten thousand yuan.

More specifically, fraud means that, a person makes the victims be lost in wrong thought and then disposes of their property, by fabricating or concealing the fact. In order to get illegal interest, the swindler pretends to be bitten by the dog and makes the dog owner believe that his/her dog bite the swindler and then compensate the swindler, which shall be the crime of fraud.

The article 49 of the security administration law stipulates that, those who swindle public or private property shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days, and shall be fined not more than five hundred yuan. Those who have relatively serious circumstances of the case shall be detained for not less than ten days but not more than fifteen days, and shall be fined for not more than one thousand yuan.

In 2017, the police in Yilong Couty, Nanchong, Sichuang Province, dealt with a case about swindling by pretending to be bitten by dog. Because the amount that the fraudsters Zhu and Fan swindled did not meet the standard of relatively large amount, Zhu and Fan were only detained.

If we don’t consider the situation that the swindler pretends to be bitten by the dog, how shall the breeder or manager undertake responsibility for their dogs’ biting behaviour?

The article 78 of tort law stipulates that, the breeder or manager shall undertake responsibility whether they have fault or not, if their dogs bite another. Certainly, if the victim is intentional or has gross negligence in the occurrence of the damage, the liability of the breeder or manager could be lessened or exempted, which is called leniency.

But the article 79 of the aforementioned law stipulates that, if the dog owners do not make safeguard measures for their dogs to avoid damage, which violates the rules, there are not leniency. The aforementioned safeguard measures include fastening the dog with rope, muzzling the dog and so on, so do you know why the swindlers always pretend to be bitten by those dogs not fastened now?

Meanwhile, if the animal you keep is dangerous and banned from breeding such as Tibetan Mastiff, German shepherd dog, tiger, lion and so on, and they cause damages, there are also not leniency.

Thus, the dog owner should remember to fasten the dog with rope and muzzle the dog, in order to avoid being swindled and prevent the dog from biting others.