Bengaluru, July 7 -- Emphasising the responsibility of pet owners to ensure public safety, the Karnataka High Court has declined to interfere with criminal proceedings against a woman whose pet dog allegedly bit another woman on the face.

The order was passed by Justice M Nagaprasanna while hearing a petition filed by Indiranagar resident Lalitha Gopalakrishnan seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR) and criminal case registered against her.

The court observed that pet owners cannot avoid liability if they fail to restrain their dogs and such negligence results in injuries to others. It said leaving a dog without proper control amounts to irresponsible conduct and that such cases deserve to be examined during trial rather t...