Animal Abuse Act: Debate Continues on Law Reform Punishing Cruelty

During the afternoon of this Thursday, the second meeting of the Criminal Legislation and General Legislation Committees in the annex of the Chamber of Deputies, where they will be put back on tables the fourteen bills to amend the current law 14 346, promulgated in 1954, What a pity the abuse and acts of cruelty to animals.

The first meeting took place on March 26 and was chaired by the deputies Gabriela Burgos and Daniel Lipovetzky, who head the criminal and general legislation commissions, respectively. A small group of protectionists, advocates of animal life and interested in the subject also participated.

At that time, at the opening of the session, Lipovetzky said that "there are different projects on the modification of the law 14.346 animal abuse or the protection of animals ", and in this sense, baderted that"we want to get the best law possible by unifying all initiatives ".

On this tone, he added that it was "the pioneering law that is over 50 years oldSo we need to update it to improve the protection of animals. "

For his part, MP Burgos stressed: "There are very transversal projects on the protection of animals and the subsequent awareness of taking care of their rights. We need a complete change including all the causes related to the abuse of animals in all its forms. "

The law in question marked a turning point for Argentine and Latin American law, since it was the first criminal law in favor of the animals that he considered the victims. But after 65 years the social perspective on the value of animal life and the need to increase its protection have changed.

The Law 14.346 It was written by the then Peronist deputy Antonio J. Benítezwho completed the predecessor Law Sarmiento No. 2,876, invented by the former president Domingo Faustino and directed by Ignacio Albarracín.

The above-mentioned rule, which is intended to be reformed, was sanctioned on September 27, 1954 by the Chamber of Deputies andStable prison sentences of 15 days to 1 year to those who commit acts of cruelty to animals. Now he is trying to increase the sentence, but also repeals articles and adds others.

Why is law 14.346 important for Argentine law?

"This law is very important because considers that animals are victims and that, throughout the evolution of jurisprudence, it has been determined that animals are subjects of rights"he explained to Infobae Andrea López, an animal rights lawyer and member of the group Argentine Galgo Project.

In this regard, he added: "The national criminal appeal says that animals are subjects of rights by a dynamic interpretation of the word victim and what animals can feel. It refers to this ability that they have of sentience (sic) and distinguish pain from pleasure, which also concluded the Cambridge statement "..

For López, with the inclusion of the word victim (Article 1) "it has been realized that jurisprudence, aggiornándose new paradigms, consider that animals are subjects of law"

About the current sanction for those who break the rule, the lawyer said: "HThe sentence of 15 days to a year is quite low, which represents an act of cruelty towards an animal.especially with the degrees of social violence we are experiencing. In this sense, it is important to change the criminal scale ".

The history of the law 14.346: from Sarmiento to Perón

Recognized as the father of the clbad, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento He was a strong advocate for animal rights and understood the need to defend them by punishing anyone who committed inhumane acts against them.

The Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals (SAPA) led the way by introducing a bill in the Senate in August 1884. Although short, but accurate at the moment, it only came to the fore when Sarmiento, far from political life and fully dedicated to the protection of animals, demanded it. It was only treated in September of the following year.

The voices opposed to animal welfare were numerous and the project that declared punishable the mistreatment of animals and imposed sanctions on its perpetrators did not advance.

In order to train those who were in favor and against, the legislators decided that it was not a criminal law and that it was limited to Buenos Aires and the vast national territories . The project has lost its parliamentary status. Some time later, the Senate looked again and when it was shot to deputies, Sarmiento was already dead..

Motivated by the commitment of the "father of the clbad" to create a law protecting animals, Ignacio Albarracín, cousin of the hero, he raised the glove by the proclamation of the first known protectionist law, to dry, under the name of "Ley Sarmiento".

The fool Albarracín, so nicknamed for his love of animals, rephrased his parent's project and, instead of calling it a crime, spoke of the ill-treatment in general, but despite the precautions he had taken during the reformulation of the project, he had strong oppositions and he returned to the Commission to be reformulated.

After the reformulation and a thorough debate, on July 25, 1891, the Senate approved the project and turned it into law. After almost eight years of work in Congress, with his deceased "father", the National Animal Protection Act No. 2786 (or Sarmiento's law, to dry) It was promulgated on August 3, 1891.

Albarracín, in addition to directing the achievement mentioned, presided over the first Argentine protection company and organized the first animal claims in Argentina. At the beginning of the 20th century, this was manifested by the closing of the zoo of Buenos Aires.

The question of rigor before diving into this part of the story is why, if Juan Domingo Perón animal lover, came to power in 1946, the 14346 law was recently sanctioned in 1954? The answer is not obvious, but it is known: he strongly opposed the approval of the project and had to face two unsuccessful attempts, in 1947 and in 1951.

The only precedent that Perón found in baduming his first term was the Sarmiento law. "A series of ordinances had allowed this rule to be applied in some important cities, but in the mid-twentieth century the law was no longer applied in almost every province," he said. declared. Silvia Urich in the book The puppies bandits (2013).

Despite the marshy landscape, Perón began his attempts to expand Sarmiento's heritage: 1947, precisely on March 10, was presented to Congress the first draft amendment of Law No. 2,786, in which it was proposed to update the sanctions and create a body to enforce the laws and, when 39, he could not be created, to act the police to defend animals. He had the approval of the senators, but the bill fell into the hands of the members.

The April 18, 1951 He attacked: he presented a new project to prevent the cruel shows with animals, especially the bullfights that seduced the Argentine public. It was Spain that he openly stated that he did not like to be killed or tortured by animals, and he categorically refused to let this activity – which Evita would call in front of bullfighters and bullfighters like "barbarism" – would reach Argentina. Neither prospered.

Finally, in 1953he confided Antonio J. Benítez, MP and Speaker of the Lower House, who made it impossible to reach the necessary consensus pbad a criminal law protect their beloved animals all over Argentina. He did it.

The Benítez project proposed a national criminal law that punishment with maximum penalty of three years imprisonment anyone who mistreats and / or tortures an animal. In addition, it was decided to extend the sentence in case of recidivism.

Lawmakers did not accept the idea and the criminal sentence was reduced to one year because it was argued that Abuse or torture of an animal must be equipped for damage to personal property and that, therefore, the sanctions must be equal.

Despite the inconvenience of legislators, after months of crossings and debates, September 27, 1954 the Peronist proposal was approved by the Senate of the nation and promulgated in November under No. 14.346 as a law against mistreatment and acts of cruelty to animals.

What does Law 14.346 say: Difference between abuse and cruelty

In article 1, the norm establishes that it will be punished with imprisonment of fifteen days to one year, one that inflicts abuse or victim of acts of cruelty to animals.

In the second and third articles, it sets out in detail when acts of mistreatment of animals are committed and an act of cruelty.

"When they wrote this law, I think that the abuse of cruelty was differentiated by considering the acts that cause daily harm, because, for example, the law establishes as maltreatment the fact of not feeding in quantity and sufficient quality horses that have been used for work, for example, "he explained. Laura Cufré, member of the organization Legal animals

After the badysis, Cufré said: "In contrast, the acts of cruelty are stronger and refer, for example, to mutilate a part of the body of the animal, to practice vivisection in a non authorized."

The Article 2 of Law 14346 establishes as acts of mistreatment not to feed in sufficient quantity and quality domestic animals or captives; to encourage them to work through instruments which, while not a mere stimulant, provoke unnecessary punishment or painful sensations; have them work an excessive number of hours without providing adequate rest, according to weather stations; use them at work when they are not in good physical condition; stimulate them with drugs without pursuing a therapeutic purpose and use animals to shoot vehicles that exceed their strength.

Law 14346: the need to extend the sentences

Although this law has been sanctioned for almost 65 years, it has only been in force for a few years. "The 14.346 has been used for a very short time, about 6 or 5. For a law to be valid, it must be used, which allows to obtain very good things that we sometimes does not see, "said the lawyer. Andrea López.

In addition, the expert referred to the sentence, which considers necessary to expand, and stated that it should be adapted to these days and to the sentence that the Law 27330 that the dog races are sanctioned: "The rights are progressive, that is why the protection of the rights progresses always in the same way as the human rights, which are always progressive, this new branch of the right that is the law on animals can not be reduced in a project that lowers the penalty provided by the law of greyhounds which, as a young law, was aggiornada by the new penal scales which constituted the code of the last penalized crimes ".

"It establishes a two-year sentence and only increases the current sentence by one year, thus ignoring the 27,330 law that sets a maximum of 4 years because it understands that harm that may to be caused to an animal, in this particular case dogs, justifies a sentence that can go up to 4 years, so a project can not ignore the latest laws that were taken into account and which were sanctioned by the Congress Do it when you're looking for complete animal protection it's a legislative inconsistency", he finished.

After the debate this afternoon and in front of the critics of several animal rights advocates for the regulatory articles, there will be at least two other meetings in the joint committees of the deputies to advance or not the reform of the law which has cost so much to have in Argentine law.