Justified Critizism

Even though you are right, in the strictly legal meaning, you may do things that make it justified to critizise you.

A police department in Sweden decided to execute a judgment by an administrative court that a dog that it had taken into custody would be killed. By law, the police department was allowed to do this. The legal counselor for the dog's human told the police that the judgment would be appealed. Nevertheless, the police executed the decision to kill the dog without waiting for the appeal or the question on whether the judgment would be stayed pending the appeal.

The Swedish Parliament's Ombudsman now critizises this police department, since the police department had received notice that the decision would be appealed, but above all since the killing of an animal cannot be undone. Regardless of the result of the appeal, a killed dog cannot be brought back to life. It does not matter, then, that the law says that the decision could be executed immediately, because the right to appeal becomes pointless in these cases.

I agree with the critizism. My only concern is that I believe the critizism should have been sharper. A dog's life is worth so much more. A dog on death row deserves the right of appeal.