Dog claims come back to bite party

A Warsaw court has ordered an opposition party to apologize publicly to the speaker of parliament for making what it said were false claims about him and his dog in a campaign ad, a court spokesman said.

The Left and Democrats opposition party claimed in a radio ad ahead of Oct. 21 general elections that Speaker Ludwik Dorn’s schnauzer Saba destroyed furniture in government offices he used in his previous post as interior minister, and that Dorn had refused to pay for the damage.

But the court determined that the information was false and ordered the party to apologize in radio broadcasts.