A group of volunteers advocating animal welfare protested in front of the Ministry of Justice and demanded to institute criminal punishment for those who cruelly maltreat or kill animals. The volunteers also asked for heavier fines and for psychiatric treatment for those who kill animals with cruelty, IPN reports. 

Head of the organization “Societatea Umana” (“Human Society”) Karl Luganov said that animals in Moldova are daily killed with cruelty and are maltreated. There is only one legal provision that imposes an administrative fine on those who resort to such acts, but this does not contribute to a reduction in the number of cases of inhuman treatment of animals.

Last year, animal welfare advocates collected 15,000 signatures in support of a bill that institutes punishment for inhuman treatment of animals. Such a provision would have been similar to the legislation of the EU, where even jail terms are imposed. In Romania, the fine is 500 conventional units, while in Germany can amount to €25,000, stated Karl Luganov.

“We request the Ministry of Justice to examine the bill we proposed last year. This contains 13 new articles that institute harsher punishment. When we asked to hasten the examination of this bill, we were told that the animals are not a priority and the fine can be raised slightly and that’s all,” said the volunteer.

Deputy Minister of Justice Anatolie Munteanu came out before the protesters and said that instituting jail terms is not the best solution in the case of inhuman treatment of animals. When changes were made to the Contravention Code, the fine was raised to 3,000 lei. If the person does not pay the fine, the penalty can be replaced with detention.