The arrest of a man in Sumy oblast for cruel treatment of a dog has evoked a wide response among animal rights advocates. There have been no such precedents in Ukraine, despite the fact that for a few years already there has been a law in effect that stipulates punishment for cruel treatment of animals. This was the first high profile case.
Thus, a 37-year-old man from Sumy oblast will be punished. The court sentenced a man to four months in prison, because he had nearly killed his pet dog. Vitalii Kozyr, head of the Investigation Department in Krasnopillia Raion Police Department, said that the incident happened a couple months ago. The dog called Tyson could not stand the smell of alcohol and refused to accept any food from his drunk owner. Then the man got a knife and a spade and avenged the dog for disobedience. The dog managed to escape to the neighbor’s yard. This woman neighbor was the one who turned to a animal rights organization, and it helped her gather all the necessary documents and file a report to the police.
This way the judges have for the first time dealt with a case about protecting not human rights but those of an animal. In the opinion of ecologists, it opens the door to finishing the other opened cases about animal protection. Whether the experts’ expectations will come true depends to a great extent on us. Will we learn to react to similar cases, or will we continue thinking just about ourselves?
While moving towards Europe, which is often discussed by bureaucrats and government officials, we have to learn how to think in terms of European standards. Animal rights have been long protected just as those of humans in the West.
COMMENTARY
Tamara TARNAVSKA, president, SOS International Animal Protection Society:
“The law enforcement officers in Kyiv have no idea about the existence of this law. That is why the law on cruel treatment of animals does not work, unlike in Europe. The first law on animal rights protection was passed in England in 1824. There are countries where animalsТ rights are legislated in the Constitution of the country, for example, in Germany. Other European countries are now joining Germany in protecting animalsТ rights equally with human rights. There special lawyers are trained to defend animalsТ rights in courts.”
If you witnessed cruel treatment of an animal, let us know about it at SOS International Animal Protection Society (tel. 569 33 46).
