The head of the All-Ukrainian Service for Wild, Exotic and Domestic Animals Rescue “Feldman Ecopark Good Home” Iryna Podvoiska together with the representatives of other animal protection organizations of Ukraine took part in the round-table meeting, which was devoted to the development of amendments to the legislation regarding the strengthening of responsibility for cruelty to animals. The round table gathered animal rights activists from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Uzhhorod and other cities.
They discussed the proposals of Volodymyr Boreiko, the director of Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Centre concerning the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In particular, the amendments stipulate a fine for animal abuse, which causes no maims or death, at the amount of 50-100 tax-free allowances (UAH 850-1,700). In case of maiming or killing, the maximum fine is to be increased up to 500 tax-free allowances (UAH 8,500). It is also proposed to introduce imprisonment for up to 5 years (the maximum punishment now is 2 years of confinement.)
Iryna Podvoiska noted that during the round-table meeting, animal rights activists decided to take 10 days to improve their proposals concerning the amendments to the legislation aimed at the improvement of the situation with animal rights protection. “We all support the increase of the amount of fines and terms of confinement, however, it is necessary to introduce more amendments and formulate them more exactly in order the slaughterers to have no possibility to escape punishment, like it often happens now. It is necessary to describe responsibility for various cases of animal abuse in detail, and in particular, to stipulate the responsibility for the publication of photos and videos with animal baiting in social networks and mass media,” she emphasized.
It should be reminded that Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Feldman declared that he supports the requirements to intensify punishment for animal abuse. “The cases of animal abuse, which, unfortunately, are not rare today, must be punished, and the legislation concerning this issue must be balanced. However, the educational work is also very important, as well as the formation of such level of consciousness in the society, when similar cases become absolutely impossible,” he noted.
