What are the rights of animals

First of all, we cannot fail to mention one of the international declarations best known to everyone, since every person, to a greater or lesser extent, has heard of it, we refer to the Universal Declaration of Animal Rightsdeclared by the UNESCO in 1977. It consists of 14 itemsthrough which animals are recognized as beings that deserve protection by the laws, as well as dignified and respectful treatment at all times.

Furthermore, the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health)⁽¹⁾ establishes some animal welfare guidelineswhose application occurred worldwide in 1993, these guidelines are a set of “5 freedoms”, which are the responsibility of human beings and consist of every animal having the right to live in the following way:

1. Free from hunger, thirst and malnutrition.
2. Free from fear and anguish.
3. Free of physical and thermal discomfort.
4. Free from injury, pain and disease.
5. Free to manifest natural behavior.

Although the above is idyllic, it is necessary to point out that both statements are still a set of “good intentions”, since they do not imply mandatory regulations for the different states.

As far as the legislative level is concerned, currently, animal rights are still very precarious, although it is true that the path being taken seems to be the correct one, or at least much better than the previous situation, which is why we can increasingly find both legislation and jurisprudence (sentences from the different courts) that establish a animal protection which until now did not exist. Society is asking for a change and little by little both the laws and those in charge of applying them respond.

It is important to highlight that there is still much to do in terms of animal law legislation refers. Currently, regulations are being developed that regulate animal welfare, as well as the prohibition of torture, transportation, normal animal suffering, etc. In this sense, there are experts who call them “first generation” rights, just as happened with human rights, which began with basic civil rights and later became broader rights, providing the person with social, economic and cultural rights by the mere fact of being a person, which is why several jurists agree on the view that animal rights are evolving in the same sense, going from regulations that saw animal protection from the perspective of their usefulness for human beings, to the proliferation of animal protection laws regarding his condition sentient beings who deserve protection for themselves, that is, for the fact of being one.

An example of this can be found in Germany, where article 20 of the fundamental law of the Federal Republic of Germany establishes the obligation of State intervention with respect to the protection of animals.

In the case of Spain, although it is true that more and more animal rights are recognizedsince we must not forget the introduction into the penal code of crime of animal abuse (which has meant a before and after in terms of the vision of animal rights), it is still necessary to carry out the development of mechanisms aimed at making animal protection effective, especially those that refer to their legal defense, since, despite the fact that the exercise of criminal action against animal abuse It is up to the prosecutor’s office in terms of its status as a public accusation; in practice, the lack of these mechanisms means that the accusation must be carried out by different associations in defense of animals or by volunteer lawyers. We have an example of a mechanism in Zurich, where they have a public defender for animals that suffer abuse.

Likewise, in January 2020, the Government of Spain created the General Directorate of Animal Rightswhich we hope will make good proposals in the not too distant future, and above all applicable and realistic proposals, as far as animal protection is concerned.

Although there are currently laws that continue to classify animals as things, society no longer sees it that way. In recent years, there has been a big change in the way of thinking about animalsTherefore, legislation such as the Civil Code of Catalonia, the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as some regional and municipal legislation already classify animals as “sentient beings”as is the case of the Canary Islands Animal Welfare Law. Likewise, due to the relationship that many people currently have with their animals, the courts have begun to rule based not only on the material damage suffered by the “owner” of the animal, but also on compensating the human companion of said animal for the moral damage caused by its loss. In this sense, the ruling of the Court of First Instance No. 32 of Barcelona is notable, which was handed down in 2007 by Judge Guillermo Arias Boo, in which we could see the following legal basis is an overwhelming social reality, and says the following:

“It is evident, moreover, that the damage suffered by people who lose a loved one goes far beyond the financial loss that it may represent for them. In reality, it is priceless. Walt Disney already said, at the beginning of ‘Lady and the Tramp’, that if there is one thing that no one has been able to buy for money, it is the wagging tail of a dog. Thus there is no money to compensate the plaintiff, her husband, and her children for the loss they have had. But that should not serve as pretext to fail to recognize, even symbolically, through pecuniary compensation, no matter how insufficient, that there is a person who must respond to them, according to civil law, for the moral evil that they have had to suffer.

Continuing in the same order, we cannot forget sentence 102/2018 of January 15, 2018, issued by the Criminal Court No. 2 of Mérida, a sentence that was later confirmed in its entirety by the Provincial Court of Badajoz, in which a man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for an individual for throwing two dogs into a well and subsequently stoning them to the death of one of them, being sentenced for two crimes of animal abuse of art. 337 of the Penal Code, basing the ruling on the consideration of animals as sentient beings, through the following words:

“Dogs are living beings endowed with sensitivity.” “For this reason, we cannot limit the protection of the animal to the scope of the owner.” And they continue: “The relationship between the person and the animal transcends the domain: the powers of use and enjoyment of the animal, as well as the disposition over it, must respect its condition of being sentient, so that the owner must preserve the animal’s well-being and, of course, must refrain from mistreating it, abandoning it and, above all, causing it a cruel death.”

“ANDIn the crime of animal abuse, the protected legal asset is not property.” given that “in gIn general, it is understood to be animal well-being, linked to the absence of unnecessary pain or suffering.“Therefore”The criminal law is based on a series of duties that people have towards animals.”

Based on what is stated in this article, it can be summarized that we are currently facing an “embryonic” phase, in which foundations are being created on which one day it will rest. animal lawincreasingly present in our society. There is still a long way to go in this regard, since current state regulations focus more on the hygiene and health conditions of animals, both in livestock farms and in zoos, with a lack of regulation regarding animal welfare and protectionalthough the direction being taken is the correct one.

After knowing all this, we now also advise you to read these other articles about Animal Exploitation and How to Avoid Animal Abuse. We also encourage you to watch this video about why it is important to protect animals in danger of extinction.

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