Laws That Punish The Abandonment Of Animals
The abandonment of animals is a cruel reality that continues to hit the European continent hard. Although progress in legal matters has been considerable in recent decades, current laws still do not have the desired effects.
On the other hand, we see that although the sanctions applicable to this crime are toughened, the number of animals rescued from the streets suffers an increase in several countries. If you want to know more about the legislation in the field of animal abandonment, keep reading.
A serious situation
Spain is probably one of the crudest examples of this phenomenon. Since 2015, with the reform of the Penal Code, animal abandonment is considered a crime throughout the national territory. However, the figures collected by the Affinity Foundation reveal that the number of abandoned animals has grown again since 2017.
The situation becomes more alarming considering that the indictments reveal a reverse trend. In other words, the more complaints about mistreatment and abandonment of animals grow, the more effective sentences are reduced. In 2018 alone, 20 fewer sentences were written than in 2017 (242 instead of 262).
Reform of the Penal Code: the abandonment of animals as a crime in Spain
To date, Spain does not have a framework law on the mistreatment and abandonment of animals. The main reference texts on legal matters at the national level are currently found in the Civil and Penal Codes. Both have undergone some modifications since the 2000s, which have made it possible to advance in the fight against these crimes.
Without a doubt, the most notable change occurred in 2015 in the Spanish Penal Code. Until then, its text supported a differentiation between crimes and criminal offenses. The offenses were understood, basically, as offenses of lesser entity than the crimes. Consequently, the penalties applicable to them were also less severe.
But, after the aforementioned reform, the concept of fault has been removed from the Penal Code. The distinction between the severity of offenses begins to be guided in terms of minor, less serious and serious offenses.
Since then, the abandonment of animals ceases to be a fault and begins to be considered a crime by Spanish law.
Penalties applicable to animal abandonment according to the Penal Code
Article 337 bis of the Penal Code provides for the penalties applicable to the abandonment of animals in Spain, stating the following:
“Anyone who abandons an animal of those mentioned in paragraph 1 of the previous article in conditions that could endanger its life or integrity will be punished with a fine of one to six months. Likewise, the judge may impose the penalty of special disqualification from three months to one year for the exercise of profession, trade or trade related to animals and for the keeping of animals. “
The reference to ” section 1 of the previous article ” is made with respect to article 337, which expresses the penalties applicable to animal abuse. In accordance with the provisions of its text, violent or abusive acts carried out against the following animals are punishable:
- Domestic or tamed animals.
- Animals that are usually domesticated.
- An animal that lives under human control temporarily or permanently.
- Any animal that does not live in the wild.
Sanctions for abandoning animals in the Spanish Autonomous Communities
In practice, the absence of a specific state law on the treatment of this crime gives rise to a marked difference in the sanctions applicable in each autonomous community. Actually, we can still find quite unequal regulations in different municipalities and regions of the Spanish territory.
In 2015, shortly after the modification of the Penal Code, the Paterna Court of First Instance (Burjassot City Council) issued a resolution considered exemplary. After abandoning her dog in a subway station, a woman was sentenced to pay a significant fine, in addition to being banned from keeping animals for six months.
Since then, many communities have been demonstrating a genuine effort to pass new, tougher penalties for crime. The Canary Islands, for example, was one of the pioneers in approving a specific law for animal protection, in 1991. Currently, its regulations consider abandonment as a very serious crime, providing fines between 1,500 and 15,000 euros.
The legislation in force in the community of Madrid highlights a wealth of details when displaying the obligations and responsibilities of guardians. The abandonment of animals is also classified as a very serious crime, for which fines of up to 45,000 euros are foreseen.
But, on the other hand, we have little up-to-date legislation that provides very low penalties, which are insignificant when compared to the damage caused to the animal. Cases such as Castilla-La Mancha, where the fines for abandonment of animals hardly exceed 300 euros, highlight the need for a framework law at the state level.
