look out ethel!

my sister ethel may be part belgian shepherd and so she'd better be careful. the belgians are crackin' down on misbehaving dogs (why is everyone looking at me?)

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Misbehaving Belgian dogs could find themselves with a "criminal record" under a new parliamentary proposal, with offenders facing anything from a rap on the paws to the death penalty, according to a newspaper report Saturday.

Under the proposal, adopted by the Senate upper house's social affairs committee, dogs and their owners would both come under scrutiny, with anyone who has served a six-month sentence for a violent crime banned from owning a dog.

If a dog bites anyone, as happens some 100,000 times a year in Belgium, a local official could sentence the canine offender to anything from a reprimand to the death sentence from the local burgomeister.

The culprit could even be seized from his kennel without even the need for a search warrant.