animal rights

Prince Edward escapes dog beating charge | World Breaking News | News.com.au

BRITAIN'S Prince Edward has escaped prosecution for allegedly beating a dog, after an animal welfare group said on Friday there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Edward, 44, the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II, was pictured in newspapers last month waving a 1.2-metre stick at two quarrelling gundogs - first with the stick in the air, then very close to one of the dogs' heads.

Charities complained, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) opened an investigation into whether he could be prosecuted.

But on Friday the RSPCA announced it had "closed its investigation as there was insufficient evidence to support the allegation that Prince Edward beat his dog".

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman welcomed the outcome, but declined to comment further.

The dogs were said to have been fighting over a dead pheasant during a shooting outing at Queen Elizabeth's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, in the east of England, where the royals traditionally spend their winter break.

At the time a palace spokesman said: "He broke up the fight with the dogs and pictures show him waving his stick around. We cannot confirm, however, whether he struck the dog."

@@@In my country, many people beat pets and this is awful. Shall we implement animal rights globally?