Budapest, March 1 (MTI) – The justice ministry will initiate talks with animal welfare groups to review penalties the penal code applies for animal abuse and to discuss any amendments that may be needed in the matter, a ministry official said on Tuesday.
Justice ministry state secretary Pál Völner told a press conference in Budapest that the ministry is in the process of reviewing past rulings in animal cruelty cases, as well as animal welfare laws in Europe, with the aim of ensuring that animals receive proper care.
Volner noted that the last amendments to the penal code introduced stricter punishments for animal abuse by raising the penalty for animal cruelty to a maximum of two years’ imprisonment and for aggravated animal cruelty to a maximum of three years’ imprisonment.
Volner also emphasised the need to improve efforts to prevent animal abuse by increasing the role of education in animal welfare both in schools and by civil groups.
The state secretary said any amendment of the current animal cruelty laws will have to be preceded by checking proposals against other items in the penal code to ensure that penalties for crimes against animals, for instance, cannot be stricter than penalties for crimes against humans.
Völner said there have been cases in which animal abusers were sentenced to prison.
On February 20, thousands of animal rights activists held a demonstration in front of Parliament against animal abuse. They demanded harsher penalties for animal abusers and that animal cruelty be classified by the law as a crime rather than an offence.
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters
3 comments
I hope the person who took this photo of this poor little pup rescued him. If the person just left him there among all that trash, probably hungry and scared….shame on you. If you did the right thing and took him in and gave him a loving forever home, then awesomeness to you. For the pup♥♥♥
oh please.
Im appalled at the way some Hungarians treat their dogs, short chains which I thought had been banned (what the point of a law and not upholding it) is disgraceful and cruel as many have nowhere to go to get out of bad weather or the heat of summer. Many have a short coats so unable to keep themselves warm and the broken down kennels I see are of no use to man or beast. We have 3 dogs 2 from shelters and one we found dumped in the country and they probably have more love in one day than these poor dogs have in their whole life. A dog is a loyal companion for the whole of its life and all it asks is a few kind words some love and food but these people seem incapable of giving this. They treat them as disposable trash and shame on all of them.