The Russian Parliament has decided to strengthen the liability of negligent pet owners. If the breeder threw his troublesome animal on the street, he risks a fine of up to 30,000 rubles. By the way, the same initiative contains a provision that imposes a fine of 200,000 rubles if a pet has attacked a person.
A pecuniary sanction is possible in cases where there is no criminal offence. Lawmakers will also ban animals from walking without their owners in all Russian cities. According to the authorities, releasing an animal involves many dangers.
There are also plans to reduce the number of places you can visit with your four-legged friend. But the State Duma’s environmental committee said that in the regions, local authorities will themselves set the penalties in the event of an outburst.
At the beginning of the drafting of the document, it was only a question of sanctions in the event of non-compliance. Officials will have to pay up to 15,000 rubles for violating the requirements, and legal and natural persons – up to 30,000 rubles.
The bill passed its first reading late last year. The final decision is scheduled for the fall semester. Now, for the cruel treatment of animals, liability is imposed only by the norms of the criminal code.
Current regulations state that if a person kills or injures an animal, he faces financial penalties of up to 80,000 rubles. There are also other forms of sanctions: compulsory labor or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
What is the situation with stray animals in Russia?
A multi-country study of stray cats and dogs was carried out last year. According to the survey, there are about 67 million of these animals in Russia, and more than 4 million homeless four-legged animals, or 6% of the total population.
Just over 3 million cats and over 700,000 dogs live on the streets. Some 150,000 animals find homes in a shelter. To find out if these numbers are good or bad, we can look at statistics from other countries:
– In India, 9 out of 10 pets are homeless;
– In Greece, one in two animals lives on the street;
– In China, the percentage of stray cats and dogs is 29%.
It can be concluded from these figures that the situation in Russia is not so frightening. But, in Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhniy Novgorod, there are as many people as there are ownerless dogs and cats in all RF.
That is, the three largest cities in the country (excluding Moscow and St. Petersburg) have stray cats and dogs.
