Recently, there was a controversy when a U-tuber assaulted a dog on an internet broadcast. Mr. Yu - tuber A recently acted in the face of the dog 's face and throwing it to bed. A police officer was dispatched by the viewer's report, but Mr. A said that he returned the police saying "It is wrong to hit my dog" and "My discipline." "The animal protection law is a mere law, and no one is punished according to zoology," he said.

It is a pitiful incident, but it is even more unfortunate that I can not specially refute A's claim. In fact, Mr. A was accused of animal abuse in January of this year, but he was not punished for the difficulty of applying the charges.

A person who has abused an animal shall be punished by imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won (Article 8 (Prohibition of animal abuse, etc.) of the Animal Protection Act) Fine of less than ten million won]. But why did not Mr. A get any punishment? Is the animal protection law weak? I think weak punishment may be the reason, but I think there is a more fundamental problem. It is the 'legal status of animals'.

In Korea, animals are legally 'goods'. The civil law of Korea has a dichotomy system of human beings and objects. Because animals are not human beings, they are treated as legal objects. For example, dogs and smartphones have the same legal status. Considering only legal status, there is no difference between Mr. A throwing a dog on his bed and throwing his smartphone. No matter how hard it is to strengthen animal protection laws, there is a limit to imposing strong punishment.

An analysis of cases of animal abuse committed in Korea for three years from 2015 to 2017 revealed that there were 68 cases of fines and two cases of imprisonment. All of the prison sentences were not only animal abusive acts but also other illegal acts, and were subject to heavy penalties. At the time, there was no single maximum sentence of 10 million won. Only a small number of cases involving societal conflicts have been sentenced to a fine of 3 million won and a fine of 5 million won.

Unlike our country, many developed countries of animal welfare abroad have a three-way system of human-thing-animal. It is certain that animals are life, not goods. Korea should establish such a three-tier civil-law system so that the punishment for animal abuse can be fundamentally strengthened.

New Zealand is one of the countries where animal protection laws have been established. The law stipulates in 2013 that animals should be respected as perceived beings and acknowledges animal rights as a non-human person. As a result, up to five years in prison will be imposed on those who abandon their animals as well as animal studies.

In Britain and Canada, the highest sentence is sentenced to five years if the animal is abused. Switzerland will impose a penalty of three years or less, or a minimum fine of 20,000 francs (about 24 million won), in violation of animal protection laws. A fine of up to one million francs .

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has classified animal abuse as an "antisocial crime" based on research that suggests that animal studies can lead to crimes against human beings, and is actively communicating the dangers of abuse. In some parts of the United States and Canada, when a couple divorces, the court decides who should have custody considering the happiness of the companion animal.

On the other hand, in Korea, animals are treated like objects and the animal protection laws are run in unspecified, so that serious animal studies are not ending. In addition to simply hitting and killing animals, new zoology is increasing, including indiscriminate abuse of nannies and poisons in dog snacks, and animal hiding, which breeds more animals than their own. It will only happen to scapegoat animals to boost YouTube views with stimulating content.

The animal group that had accused A in January once again accused Mr. A. The allegations that the case is punished properly and that measures are taken are raised on the bulletin board of the Cheong Wa Dae National Petition and received more than 130,000 consents. I hope this case will be a chance to look back at the legal status of the animal.

# In-It # In-# Lee Hak Bum # Dong Mun-Dong