[Case 1]
'If you don't kill your father, sister, and puppy, you will die'.
A hallucination came suddenly to Mr. A.
Mr. A strangled his father and killed his dog with a weapon.
Then she strangled her sister and killed her.
Mr. A, who usually suffered from schizophrenia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for continuing murder and murder.
However, the act of pulling a weapon out of a kitchen drawer and stabbing a dog was never covered.
[Case 2]
Mr. B, angry for some reason, recklessly went to his girlfriend's house.
He started breaking things in the house and kicked his girlfriend's head.
Then he grabbed the dog and closed his mouth.
"You die like this! Look carefully!"
The threat continued, shouting.
And they raped a frightened woman.
He was convicted of rape and was sentenced to two years in prison.
However, nothing was dealt with about the act of closing the dog's mouth and preventing him from breathing.
[Case 3] The
puppy hid under the bed without eating.
Male C sprayed pesticide on the dog.
When his wife dried up, he slapped her in the face and swung a weapon, wounding her wrist and leg.
He was charged with a special injury and was sentenced to one year in prison, two years probation, and an order of probation and 80 hours of community service.
However, nothing was dealt with about the behavior of threatening dogs, spraying pesticides and harassing them.
…
There is one thing that has changed since yesterday (February 12, 2021).
Cruelty of animals faces heavier penalties than ever before.
In accordance with the Enforcement Decree of the Animal Protection Act and the amendment to the Enforcement Regulations, the punishment rule for cruelty to animals has been reinforced from the existing ``imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than 20 million won'' to ``a imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than 30 million won''. .
Do you remember the incident in May 2019 in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, when a drunk man committed an obscene act against Jindo dog on the street.
The three-month-old puppy has a bowel movement disorder.
The terrible animal cruelty outside of common sense has caused a lot of resentment.
There was even a national petition for “strengthening the punishment for animal cruelty”, and more than 200,000 people participated in a month.
The government also agreed on the need to strengthen punishment for cruelty to animals.
Over time, the amendment to the Animal Protection Act was passed, and it was finally implemented in 2021.
● End when punishment is strengthened?
Even things that aren't treated as
animal cruelty
are'countered'. From
now on, cruel abuse and killing of animals will result in heavier punishment.
Opinions differ as to whether'a imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won' is indeed appropriate.
It can be seen as a significant change because a national consensus was formed to severely punish animal cruelty, and the law was revised.
However, compared to the level of animal cruelty punishment in other countries, such as New Zealand and the UK, where interest in animal rights is high.
In addition, there are still claims that more severe punishment is needed, saying that animal cruelty can further lead to personal crime.
By the way.
In order to determine whether the level of punishment is appropriate, penalties must be imposed.
The act of cruelly harassing and killing animals is illegal, and judgment must be made, whether in jail or fine.
However, according to some cases, there have been cases where the prosecution has not been made even though an obvious act of cruelty to animals has been committed.
Any reports of harassment or killing of animals were not considered criminal activity at all.
In particular, animal cruelty during other criminal acts, such as domestic violence or sexual violence, was surprisingly natural.
Attorneys who advocate for Animal Freedom and Animal Rights said in the'Animal Cruelty Case Review (2021.1)', "It is encouraging that the article on the punishment for animal cruelty has been strengthened, but the recognition of the crime depends on the perception of the person in charge of the investigation or prosecution. It’s a pity,” he said.
● Whenever a case occurs, the'tinkering' law is revised...
Punishment Blind spots In
the UK, where animal rights are best guaranteed, animal cruelty is punished by covering it as "an act that causes unnecessary suffering to animals."
On the other hand, the current laws in Korea specifically list the actions that can be punished for cruelty to animals.
For example, it is believed that killing animals can be punished by △killing animals in a cruel way, △killing in public places or in front of other animals △deliberately not giving feed or water.
It is pointed out that this method of listing behaviors rather leads to a blind spot for punishment of animal cruelty.
In fact, in the case of killing dozens of animals by holding an electric skewer to the snout, the courts of the first and second trials at the time said, "It is difficult to conclude that they were killed in a cruel way. I am not guilty.”
1) In
the'Icheon Jindo Dog Bestiality Case' mentioned above, the victim dog was recognized as a violation of the Animal Protection Act because it suffered a bowel movement disorder.
Under current animal protection laws, there is no punishment for any person who commits sexual abuse against an animal unless he kills or injures him.
The Animal Protection Act has been revised nine times since it was enacted in 1991, and in many cases it was revised as a follow-up measure, like tinkering according to individual cases that caused controversy in society.
The level of animal cruelty is increasing day by day.
Also, the number of cases of abuse is increasing.
According to the National Police Agency statistics obtained by Lee Eun-ju's Office of Justice, the number of animal protection laws has increased more than 10 times from 69 in 2010 to 914 in 2019.
During the same period, only 304 people were handed over to trial for violating the Animal Protection Act.
Most of these were also fined and sentenced to probation, and only 10 people were sentenced to imprisonment.
Hee-kyung Jo, CEO of the Animal Freedom Association, criticized, "The awareness of the law and the citizens' perceptions of the law does not meet the law and the citizens' legal sentiment, so the response to cruel animal cruelty is insufficient, and the cotton bat is often only punished."
Even though an innocent animal was cruelly abused and killed, it should not be possible for the perpetrator to escape punishment because it cannot be discussed.
※ The cases listed while opening the article are excerpted from the'Animal Cruelty Case Review (2021.1)' published by lawyers advocating Animal Freedom and Animal Rights on the 30th anniversary of the enforcement of the Animal Protection Act.
The animal abuse case law review can be downloaded as a PDF from the Animal Freedom Association website.
1) The
Supreme Court overturned the innocence of the first and second trials in the'dog slaughter case' with the purpose of guilty.
2)
Park Joong-won attorney, Animal Cruelty Case Review (2021.1) p13-25