The PS said this Saturday that it aimed to make the protection of animal welfare “completely clear to everyone”, show openness to legislative changes and recall that its constitutional revision project enshrines this right.
Speaking to the Lusa Bureau, the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Seat of the PS Pedro Delgado Alves responded to the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for a declaration of unconstitutionality, “with general coercive force”, of a rule of law that prohibits the mistreatment of animals.
The PS deputy warned that the issue of animal welfare today “has a much greater social consensus and adherence than it did 10 or 15 years ago” and that in this context a possible declaration of unconstitutionality would lead to “a degree of confusion among some of the the population”. the population”.
Faced with this scenario, Pedro Delgado Alves guaranteed it the PS is “focused” on “finding a solution that guarantees and enforces this additional form of animal welfare protection in a way that is completely clear to everyone”.
To this end, Pedro Delgado Alves pointed out that the PS constitutional revision project aims “precisely to leave no doubt about the fact that the constitution expressly enshrines and welcomes animal welfare”.
“There are doubts, there are different interpretations if that is the case, but for the avoidance of doubt it seems preferable to us – and indeed there are other parties who have done the same – that the Constitution expressly provides for the subject matter”, he stressed.
On the other hand, the PS also shows openness to “continue to improve” the 2014 law criminalizing mistreatment of pets, noting that some say the legislation is “not sufficiently established, not sufficiently clear”. . “.
“It seems to us that (…) there are some improvements in the determinability of some concepts – be it the concept ‘animal’, or the concept ‘abuse’ for example – in which it is also possible for the Assembly of the Republic to make some work,” he said.
Pedro Delgado Alves recalled that there is a PAN bill – passed to the specialty on Friday without a general vote – on the matter, committing to “look at the proposals presented” and, if there is “a point of agreement that overcoming these difficulties”, which show an openness to discuss them.
“It is a path that we have on the table and that it is also possible to explore. But, as I said, it may not be enough: it may even solve some doubts, it may not solve everything. Review”, he stressed. .
The PAN diploma in question proposes changes to the Penal Code to extend the criminalization of abuse to animals other than just companion animals and to increase the penalties for abandonment or abuse.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday asked for the unconstitutionality of the standard that makes it punishable by a fine or imprisonment for anyone who kills or mistreats pets without a valid reason, according to a press release released on Wednesday. fair by the Attorney General’s office.
According to the memorandum, the request for unconstitutionality arises after three decisions by the TC on the matter.
Article 387 of the Penal Code defines as a crime of mistreatment of companion animals the conduct of anyone who, for no legitimate reason, inflicts pain, suffering or any other physical ill-treatment on a companion animal (e.g. dogs and cats), a crime punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 120 days.
The information about this initiative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Constitutional Court was provided by Expresso ‘online’, which said that the plenary assembly of judges of the Constitutional Court will decide the future of the animal protection law, which came into life eight years ago called and the target of three decrees declared unconstitutional by the TC.
According to Expresso, the TC had already declared the law unconstitutional in serious cases, such as that of the female Pantufa who died in agony after undergoing a cold-blooded caesarean section. The owner, who threw the living dogs in the bin, was convicted at first instance, but later acquitted – and in another case where a dog was abused by its owner for six years.
In response to this request from the Member of Parliament, the organization Intervenção e Resgate Animal (IRA) is today promoting a demonstration in Lisbon in defense of the criminalization of animal cruelty.
Source: DN
