SEAT
Animal Cruelty
WHAT IS IT ?
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Animal cruelty can be defined as the socially unacceptable behavior of intentionally (active) or unintentionally (passive) inflicting unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress to, and/or the death of a non-human animal.
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Intentional cruelty
means someone has purposely inflicted physical harm or injury on an animal. This is a crime of acting with “malicious intent" and it is often a sign of serious psychological issues.
Examples of active animal cruelty include:
Poisoning, infliction of any physical harm, illegal breeding or trade, hoarding, killing, etc.
Unintentional cruelty
could mean an animal has been denied the basic necessities of care. It could also mean that the pet parent is unaware they are doing anything wrong and needs to be educated on how to properly care for the animal. Passive animal cruelty is much more common—and often more difficult to recognize.
Examples of passive animal cruelty include:
Denied veterinary care, denied or neglected basic needs including appropriate food, water, shelter and physical exercise, etc.
E by Greek Laws 4039/12 & 4235/14
MAJOR TYPES OF ANIMAL CRUELTY
NEGLECT
Negligence is classified as a passive form of animal abuse. It means that lack of proper action also matters. It includes instances when pets suffers from dehydration, starvation, parasite infestation or live in unsuitable establishments.
ABUSE
Any act of violence, harm and torture against animals is considered abuse and offenders are legally penalized. Unnecessary practices performed on animals, including ear-cropping, tail-docking, debarking, feather clipping, declawing, etc., all reflect animal abuse and many are also legally banned.
ENTERTAINMENT
Even some of the biggest-budget films have had multiple precedents of maltreatment and even killed animals during their production.
In circuses there are hundreds of documentations reporting animal cruelty not only during the training process, but also in matters of caging, feeding, veterinary care, etc.
RESEARCH
Most activities of animal testing and experimentation can be classified as animal abuse due to the shift in ethical standards and development of technologies.
INDUSTRIAL FARMING
Industrial farming is considered a form of animal cruelty mainly due to the fact that many farm animals live and die in horrible suffering. Although many manufacturers argue that it is impossible to transport and slaughter a huge amount of animals in a “humane manner,” animal activists demand changes in this department.
Explore fines and penalization for animal cruelty in Greece