A law proposal to put the brakes on animal cruelty in Portugal was debated and approved in Parliament on Friday last week.
The ‘projecto de lei’ proposed by the Socialist Party is designed to push through animal protection legislation dating back to 1995 that has never been properly finalised.
Designed to effectively outlaw people who harm animals – and prohibit them from doing so in future – it suggests jail terms of up to three years for serious offenders and fines of up to €5,000.
Any new law along these lines will be welcomed by animal rights campaigners who have been fighting for proper protection for animals for decades.
Bridget Hicks, one of the veterans among animal workers who has battled with authorities in Portugal since the 80s, said in an interview some years ago: “Animals can be abandoned, cruelly treated, kept in inhumane conditions, thrown into rubbish bins – and no matter how much we denounce this sort of behaviour, there hasn’t been one case of animal cruelty taken to court in Portugal, because there is no effective legislation! There isn’t another country in Western Europe like it!”
Presenting the law proposal, PS deputy Pedro Delgado Alves told Público newspaper: “The recognition that the nature of animals as sensitive living beings requires a law adapted to their needs, particularly when it comes to their protection and safety when faced with acts of cruelty inflicted by their owners or third parties, has created an ever-widening consensus within contemporary societies”.
The PS want the law to define “acts of unjustified violence”, explaining that the concept should run from “inflicting suffering on a domestic pet” to “keeping an animal in inadequate conditions”.
When it comes to punishments, two different “regimes” are sought, with the heaviest prison terms and/or fines for situations where cruelty has caused permanent damage or death.
Jail from six months to two years is suggested for “anyone who practises an act of violence” against an animal, irrespective of whether they own it or not, while three years is called for in worst-case scenarios, with accompanying fines running to as much as €5,000.
A suggestion also for serious offenders is a blanket ban on them owning animals for a period of up to 10 years.
