May 12, 2023 – The amendments to the Law on Public Order and Peace Offenses, which entered into force on Thursday, will ensure that animal abuse is punished with fines from two hundred to one thousand euros instead of the previous twenty to one hundred euros, according to a press release from the Croatian Friends of Animals association.
As the association explained, reports Index, with these legal changes, a fine of two hundred to one thousand euros will be imposed on a person who “unsupervised and carelessly keeps animals that can injure or endanger citizens or who abuses animals in a public place or mistreats them in another way”.
“Higher penalties are more likely to have a preventive effect”
Small and often symbolic amounts of fines do not significantly help deter individuals from committing misdemeanors to the detriment of animals, or to the detriment of people. Higher penalties are certainly more likely to have a preventive effect, which is especially important because animal abusers often also become human abusers, say the Croatian Friends of Animals.
According to the provision of the Law on Public Order and Peace Offenses, citizens are urged to immediately call the police when they witness the abuse or mistreatment of animals in a public place, and the police are the only ones with the authority to stop mistreatment of animals and take measures to sanction the violators, they point out in the press release.
They also note that other legal regulations are not applicable in such situations. “It is great that such situations can be reported under the Law on Public Order and Peace Offenses, and the higher penalties prescribed should deter potential perpetrators from both committing and repeating the offence,” further point out the Croatian Friends of Animals.
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