The number of cases of animal cruelty has increased: what are the penalties
Kyiv • UNN
In 2023, 178 criminal cases of animal cruelty were opened, which is more than last year. Since 2015, a total of 1599 such proceedings have been recorded.
Since the beginning of this year, 178 criminal cases have been opened for animal cruelty, which is already higher than last year. Approximately one in five cases goes to court this year, according to the monitoring service Opendatabot, UNN reports.
Details
"178 criminal cases of animal cruelty have been opened this year. This is already more than in the whole of last year. A total of 1,599 criminal proceedings have been recorded since 2015," the report says.
Almost every 5th case, as indicated, is going to court this year. For comparison, in the previous two years, almost every 4th case was considered.
The court registry already contains cases where criminals have been sentenced to prison for cruelty to animals. For example, in the Dnipro region, a man stabbed an alabai named "Imir" with a machete during a robbery. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison separately. However, cases with suspended sentences currently prevail.
For reference
The issue of animal cruelty is regulated by Article 299 of the Criminal Code. It states that cruelty includes physical abuse of animals and setting them against each other. Criminals can be punished with a fine or imprisonment for a term of 1 to 8 years.
