Legality Of Animal Seizures
Seizures in animals are provided for in the legal order. However, Spanish legislation dedicated to animal abuse is evolving very slowly.
Periodically the Animal Protection Associations make their voices heard demanding greater efficiency. At the level of written letter, the texts mark a good path. Laws are specified and enacted . But when it comes to ensuring compliance, the state does not achieve the expected results.
There are no official controls on the treatment of animals. Violations of the law are detected almost exclusively through citizen complaints. And on many occasions animals are still objects that man uses for whatever he wants.
How is animal legislation conceived?
The regulations on animal abuse consider animals as material objects of crime. It should be clarified that the expression ‘material objects’ does not refer to objects-things. The law defines the material object as “the person or thing on which the typical conduct falls”.
Referring to animals, they are considered material objects because they receive the impact of the criminal action exercised by a subject, a person. That is the idea that animates the legislation. Seizures in animals are based on this legal concept of the animal.
Do animals have rights?
There is no legal explicit recognition of animal rights. In this area, the debate between antagonistic positions is permanent. On the one hand, there are those who argue that a person who is not the holder of obligations cannot be the right holder.
On the other hand, the minority believes that animals are holders of certain rights, such as the right to life and physical integrity. The academic authorities do not finish defining themselves and the discussion, which is rather philosophical, is eternal.
Due to this lack of agreements and definitions, the legal system subordinates the guardianship of animals to human actions. The matter is approached, in this way, from the perspective of the behaviors of people that cause unjustified suffering to animals.
When do you proceed to seizures in animals?
Each autonomous community has legislated on its own with a common interest: preventing the mistreatment of animals . Underlying all of them is the intention to preserve the physical integrity of the animal.
As an effective measure, most communities provide for temporary or permanent seizures of animals when they suffer abuse. The precautionary separation of the animal from the person who is presumed to be mistreating it is the first step to protect it.
How is the system applied in practice?
Activation of the animal protection system begins with a complaint. The circuit begins when someone verifies the existence of abused animals. What kind of abuse? Anyone who affects their physical integrity: malnourished, beaten, exploited animals by their owners, among others.
The person files the complaint against the owner and provides supporting evidence. At this point, photographs are essential, as is the testimony of other people.
The judicial journey begins, which is long and slow. That is why the law provides for the provisional confiscation of the animal to prevent it from being exposed to bad conditions.
The animal that shows signs of having suffered abuse is removed preventively. Then the corresponding investigation will take place. Finally, the judge will determine if this confiscation will be final or if the animal will return to its owner; It can also be adopted by someone else.
This retention of the animal is not only foreseen for the abused. The standards protect the animal from humans, but also humans from the animal. The confiscation of animals can be determined in case of frequent annoyances or risks to the neighborhood.
What about animals that have been separated from their owners?
Seizure in animals causes a fundamental problem. There are no state shelters to keep them. The judge decrees the separation of the animal from its owner, but where will it remain until the final decision? Who will feed it and take care of its health? And in the event of final confiscation, where will that animal live for the rest of its life? Who will bear the costs?
The Animal Protection Associations accredited as suitable for this function, are the solution for the moment, they keep them and offer them for adoption. Animal protection is not included in state budgets.
