Friday, March 29

The Judiciary warns that the animal abuse law punishes some attacks on pets more than cases of minor violence against women


The plenary session of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) in office will study next Thursday the report on the Law on the protection, rights and welfare of animals that, among other aspects, reforms the Penal Code to include the crime of animal abuse. The draft prepared by the progressive vocal Roser Bach objects to some aspects of the project promoted by the Ministry of Social Rights and warns that the intention of the legislator to “toughen” the penalties for animal abuse “can compromise the principle of proportionality”. The text promoted by Ione Belarra’s department is undergoing parliamentary processing in Congress.

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The paper that the members will analyze warns, for example, that the norm imposes greater punishments for some attacks on animals than for certain crimes against people. Thus, remember that the penalty provided for animal abuse when the aggravating circumstance of having committed the acts to cause harm to whoever is or has been the author’s partner is 9 to 18 months in prison. It is a “higher” penalty than the one established for the crime of coercion, that of minor threats, that of injuries that do not require medical treatment or that of mistreatment in the field of violence against women. The Criminal Code punishes these behaviors with a prison sentence of six to 12 months.

The rapporteur’s draft also warns of “a certain breach of the principle of proportionality” in the comparison between the crime of animal abuse that does not require veterinary treatment and the minor crime of injuries that does not require medical treatment. In this case, the penalty is the same: a fine of one to three months. But in the first of the cases, the possibility of an alternative sentence of works for the benefit of the community of 31 to 90 days is foreseen, which determines that the type must be classified as a less serious crime and not as a minor crime, as is the case. of injuries without medical or surgical treatment in people.

According to the explanatory statement of the bill submitted by the Government, it intends to put an end to what it describes as “a feeling of widespread impunity for animal abuse, with ineffective penalties for such actions and lacking deterrent effects” through tougher penalties. . The project indicates, in this sense, that the sentences to be currently imposed are usually less than two years, which is why the convicted do not enter prison as they can be suspended or replaced.

The report proposal warns, however, that the bill does not achieve what it announces as the “first and essential” justification for the reform, since although both in the case of injuries and in the case of the death of the animal, the prison sentences, in both cases the penalty of a fine continues to be maintained alternatively.

On the other hand, the draft includes an important change regarding the protected legal right, which now extends to “all vertebrate animals”, regardless of whether or not they are under human control. This option, according to the text that will be studied by the governing body of the judges, poses “important problems” to reconcile the protection of animals with the protection of other legal rights, such as public health or the environment.

“On more than one occasion, the defense of these legal rights will come into conflict with the protection of the physical integrity or even the life of the animal” and will require an immediate response that will not always be supported by laws or other provisions, issued prior to the reform, that justify the conduct in question”, warns the presentation.

The proposed report does endorse other aspects of the standard. For example, it values ​​positively the inclusion of the liability of legal persons in the commission of crimes of animal abuse. The regulation of the precautionary measures that may be adopted to protect animals deserves the same assessment, including the provisional change in the ownership of the animal to favor its care and well-being.

Despite having its mandate expired for almost four years, the CGPJ maintains among its functions the preparation of reports on draft laws and other provisions. Although the conclusions of this report are not binding on the Government, their approval is a mandatory procedure.



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