(ANSA) – ROME, 03 OCTOBER – “Tomorrow 4 October is World Animal Day, introduced in 1931 to draw attention to their protection and well-being.
Celebrated all over the world, it falls on the day of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment”. The President of the Group for Autonomies, Julia Unterberger, wrote this in a note.
“In Europe – explains the SVP senator – with the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 animals were declared to be sentient. In the recently concluded legislature, the Commission worked on an overall reform of the legislation on the subject which unfortunately did not reach conclusion The appointment of a Commissioner for animal welfare for the first time goes in the right direction, even if the figure identified has no particular skills in this regard, there is no longer any time to wait 1.4 million citizens of the 27 member states, to eliminate cage farming and prohibit the importation of animals raised in cages, just as mandatory labels must be introduced on products certifying respect for animal welfare.” .
“At a national level, in the past legislature, the protection of animals was introduced into the Constitution. Nonetheless, in Italian civil law animals are still considered movable property, while in criminal law it is not the animal that is protected, but the feelings of the people in it. against animals. Even the penalties for mistreatment are too low – observes the parliamentarian – they are often limited to a financial penalty, which has little deterrent effect. A ruling from the Court of Trento, which acquitted a woman, recently caused a sensation who had publicly hit and kicked his dog on a leash”. “Furthermore, the current criminal law is not applicable, or is only partially applicable, to breeding, transport, slaughter, circuses, zoos, hunting and historical-cultural events. We are practically talking about 80 % of animals for which cruel treatment is completely legal. In short, there is still a lot to do on a regulatory level and numerous legislative proposals have not even begun today in the Senate The hope is that politics will take this issue seriously for the good of millions of sentient beings, too often victims of mistreatment and atrocious suffering.” (HANDLE).
2024-10-05 07:44:13