Examples Of Legal Protection Programs For Animals
Civil society is increasingly involved in animal welfare. Claims that previously came almost univocally from activists of the animal cause, today regain meaning for a large part of the population.
However, it is impossible to think of a comprehensive guarantee of animal rights without concrete legal support. Precisely for this reason, it is essential to continue promoting the legal protection programs for animals that have been gaining strength in recent decades.
Why are legal protection programs for animals important?
Since the end of the 20th century, we have been able to observe undeniable advances in legal matters on animal protection. Abuse has gained a broader understanding in international law, which was accompanied by a tightening of the penalties applicable to this crime.
Even so, the process of de-objectification of animals still seems to move slowly on a global level. Almost entirely, international constitutions continue to treat animals as human property.
A clear example of this is found in article 333.1 of the Spanish Civil Code, whose text provides that all things that can be appropriated by human beings must be considered as movable or immovable property, according to their characteristics.
As long as it is not possible to approve a specific legal personality for animals, recognizing their sensitive and cognitive capacities, we will continue to alienate them from their natural rights.
In this panorama, it is essential to work on the circumstances in which animals can be considered as subjects of legal rights.
It is precisely here where legal protection programs play a key role, mainly because they allow progress in understanding the laws and devising viable strategies in which it is possible to apply the law, to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of animals.
Legal Protection programs for animals in Spain: the struggle of the Animal Justice and Defense Observatory
The Animal Justice and Defense Observatory is one of the Spanish institutions that has been fighting the most for the recognition of animal rights.
One of the central objectives of this center is to spread the importance of Animal Law for society as a whole. Of course, always understanding that the legal route is essential to guarantee a real protection to animals in vulnerable situations.
The legal protection programs that are promoted are a key tool to optimize the current use of law in the field of animal welfare. As well as to accompany the claims and needs of civil society in times of accelerated transformation.
The implementation of these programs translates into concrete improvements for the quality of life of animals in vulnerable situations, in the medium and long term .
It is also about collaborating with public health, promoting public awareness of the importance of responsible ownership. As well as the fight against abandonment and street overcrowding, among other real problems that mainly affect urban environments.
Logically, such programs cannot only involve civil society. Governments need to assume the role of protagonists in this process, through public policies that enable and facilitate the application of the Law as an instrument of animal protection.
For this reason, one of the urgent actions pointed out by the Observatory is to resolve the lack of legal protocols that determine precisely how to act in the face of the finding or complaint that an animal suffers abuse or lives in conditions of vulnerability or neglect.
Legal advice to citizens on animal welfare matters
One of the essential parts for the success of legal protection programs for animals is advice to citizens. The absence of national framework legislation on animal welfare can be an obstacle to resorting to the laws to help an animal that is the victim of human abuse or neglect.
All this is key in the fight against animal abuse, to guide complainants on the steps to take to make their complaint effective. For example, in the collection of concrete evidence and witnesses that demonstrate the unworthy circumstances to which the animal is subjected.
But this is also important to enable numerous practical actions that help protect the integrity of animals. This is the case of signing contracts adoption in claims for bad practice veterinary medicine or in case of accidents and the alternatives to protect the welfare of animals in the event of divorce or after the death of their guardians.
