The Central District Court of Dnipro, on September 17, 2026, heard a case regarding physical violence at a veterinary clinic. An employee of the establishment struck a client twice with a mop on the leg – a forensic medical expert recorded a bruise and contusion on the victim's right leg. Following the review, the court imposed a fine of 850 hryvnias on the guilty party and ordered her to pay the dog owner 20,000 hryvnias in compensation.
How the conflict unfolded
The situation that led to the court case began in late May 2026. A resident of Dnipro first brought her dog with a laceration to the clinic – the veterinarian examined the animal and prescribed treatment. The next day, the woman returned: the doctor treated the wound and advised against bandaging it, so after the procedure, traces of blood remained on the office floor and on the porch.
As the owner and her dog were leaving after payment, a clinic employee swore at her due to the soiled porch. The woman decided to record this on video and asked her to repeat what she said on camera. The employee retreated further into the premises, and the visitor followed her with her phone recording.
A scuffle then ensued between them. When the woman asked not to be touched, she received two blows with a mop to her leg in response – after the second blow, the mop broke into pieces. On the way home, her leg began to hurt severely, and spots appeared on her skin. The woman took her dog home, called the police, and returned to the clinic to wait for the patrol. Her condition worsened, so with the police's permission, she went to the emergency room. She couldn't sleep that night, and in the morning, a panic attack started due to the pain.
The consequences of the incident also affected the family's daily life: the dog had to be treated at home, and the woman was temporarily unable to take her child to training.
Two versions of events in the courtroom
The parties presented opposing accounts of what happened to the court.
The clinic employee claimed that after the appointment, the owner left the dog on the stairs near the entrance, and when asked to remove the animal, she responded with curses and tried to re-enter the clinic. When she was not allowed in, a pushing match began, and then, according to her own words, she lost her temper. In court, she also noted that she usually avoids conflicts, and the visitor that day was agitated due to the dog's condition.
The dog owner insisted that she physically could not have hit anyone: she was holding onto the door with one hand and her phone with the other, recording a video. Additionally, she explained that due to fear of infections, she always wears gloves and would not have touched a stranger.
The court, weighing the circumstances of the case and the forensic medical expert's conclusion, found the clinic employee's guilt established and ruled to impose a fine and compensation.
