No distinction of species, everywhere and at anyone's expense. There are no exempt subjects and situations and no animals removed from protection. This is what a historic sentence of the Court of Cassation establishes
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himA fundamental principle regarding crimes against animals: crimes of mistreatment and killing of animals they are always applicable to any animal species, even in the presence of special laws such as in circuses, experimentation, hunting and breeding.
No distinction of species, everywhere and at anyone's expense. There are no exempt subjects and situations and no animals removed from protection. It is what one establishes historic ruling of the Court of Cassation, which definitively establishes the applicability of articles 544 bis and ter of the criminal code not only to the species of affection, pursuant to art. 544- of the Criminal Code:
1. Anyone, out of cruelty or without necessity, causes an injury to an animal or subject it to torture or behavior o fatigue or unbearable work due to its ethological characteristics it is punished with imprisonment from 3 months to 1 year or with a fine from 3.000 to 15.000 euros.
2. The same penalty applies to anyone who administers to animals narcotic or prohibited substances or subjects them to treatments that cause damage to their health.
3. The penalty is increased by half if the death of the animal derives from the facts referred to in the first paragraph
As noted in the doctrine, explain the judges of the college, 'the underlying rationale of the law is to exclude the applicability of the criminal provisions set up to protect animals with reference to activities that are objectively damaging to their life or health provided that they are carried out in compliance with the special regulations governing them because they are considered socially adequate to the human forum. A decision that has an important legal significance and cultural importance.
Because the ruling of our Supreme Court "therefore confirms that Law 189/2004" Provisions concerning the prohibition of mistreatment of animals, as well as their use in clandestine fights or unauthorized competitions "does not only protect dogs and cats", explains theEnpa. "This means that some categories, such as those of hunters, circus performers, vivisectors, fishermen or breeders, in the event that they are responsible for crimes against animals, will no longer be able to hide behind a finger - continues the Enpa - and invoke a real immunity, connected to the nature of the activity they carry out. We therefore hope that magistrates and law enforcement agencies will also take this important sentence into consideration to ensure the correct application of the law and respect for the collective feeling towards animals ".
Lav also applauds to the relevant sentence for the principle of law that follows from which the animal rights association has always been convinced: “we said it eight years ago, comforted by lawyers and magistrates, and hindered by different sectors of the opposite and clear position. The provisions of Title IX-bis and Article 727 of the Penal Code apply to all animals, with the limits of the provisions of special laws, if any, due not only to this sector. Without free zones. Law 189 of 2004 was not and is not a law only for cats and dogs. We have always maintained that all animals after this important reform of the Criminal Code that we helped to promote at the political and technical level, could be victims of the crime of maltreatment referred to in the new (then) article 544 ter of the Criminal Code, beyond whether or not they were the object of a special activity, such as hunting, experimentation, circuses, breeding, transport, slaughter and any other field without any exclusion of principle ". The Lav defines as disconcerting the position taken also within part of the animal rights world but - above all - by some police and administrative bodies that until practically a few hours ago doubted whether they could apply this law across the board, favoring in fact areas off limits from the regulatory influence of these criminal offenses, but the "wind" has changed, indeed, "we made it change" explain the animal rights activists.
However, there is still a lot to do, but the road is the right one.
Roberta Ragni
