Here is the first Italian law that recognises animal rights
Environment — di Simone Santi
Italian law now truly protects animals from mistreatment: the new law recognises them as subjects holding rights.
Here is the first Italian law that recognises animal rights
Italian law now truly protects animals from mistreatment: the new law recognises them as subjects holding rights.
After six months of waiting, the law on crimes against animals becomes a reality, following its definitive approval by the Senate. Beyond the toughening of penalties and the introduction of new sanctions, the most significant change is a cultural one: for the first time, the animal is recognised as a subject holding rights, and no longer as an object protected on the basis of human sensibility. It is a turning point that reflects the evolution of collective sentiment and incorporates the 2022 constitutional amendment, which enshrined the protection of animals and the environment in the Italian Constitution.
Reati contro gli #Animali. L'Assemblea approva in via definitiva le modifiche al codice penale e al codice di procedura penale e altre disposizioni per l'integrazione e l'armonizzazione della disciplina in materia senato.it/leggi-e-docume…
In substance, the law provides for a toughening of penalties for existing offences, such as mistreatment, killing and animal fighting, and introduces a ban on keeping animals in chains, previously in force only in certain regions. Sanctions are also made more severe for illegal trafficking, violent shows and the destruction of natural habitats, while controls and the liability of companies involved are also strengthened.
There remains, however, a sense of bitterness — among some of the animal rights associations involved in drafting the law, as well as among the political opposition — over certain missing measures: no education in schools, no strengthening of animal welfare enforcement officers, and no aggravating circumstances for particularly heinous offences. A law that marks a change of pace, then, but one that many voices in civil society consider still only halfway along the road. For instance, the Lega Anti-Vivisezione (Lav) explains that "among the main positive aspects we highlight the provision of a monetary penalty alongside the custodial sentence for both the offence of killing and that of mistreatment, the introduction of certain aggravating circumstances, as well as the provision allowing for more severe punishment of an animal's death following the administration of narcotics and other prohibited substances".
++++APPROVATA LEGGE CONTRO MALTRATTAMENTO SU ANIMALI+++ ci sono aspetti positivi ottenuti anche grazie a nostro intervento, altri negativi. Molta amarezza perchè la legge non prevede pene più dure per chi maltratta gli animali. Ecco cosa cambia👇#LAV
lav.it/news/proposta-…
lav.it/news/proposta-…
Despite this, "the text was approved by the Senate without any amendments to strengthen its effectiveness either in terms of preventing or combating crimes against animals, failing to remedy the shortcomings of the first parliamentary approval." And indeed, adds Lav, there are even steps backwards: for example, "a provision is introduced that in effect permits the keeping of dogs and cats on a chain or similar restraint, provided it does not prevent their movement".