Dog killed, sheep executed: No prison sentence for animal torturers in Austria

Two years and ten months unconditional imprisonment for animal cruelty to farm animals. This landmark ruling was recently confirmed by the Supreme Court. Austria’s animal rights activists can only dream of what’s going on in Germany. A few recent examples: In Vienna you can murder dogs with impunity by throwing them off balconies, in Tyrol you can kick and beat cows, in Carinthia you can shoot your cows – all acquittals.

“As a reward for confessions, you get cases dismissed in exchange for fines. What comes next? Bonuses for promising not to reoffend? Where do we actually live? Is it all just a nightmare? When will the justice system finally wake up? Judgments are fine It’s also about general prevention, i.e. the deterrent effect on possible further perpetrators. That simply doesn’t exist in this country,” says Pfotenhilfe spokesman Jürgen Stadler.

Dog killed

In the last few months, the regional court in Ried im Innkreis has already dismissed two diversionary proceedings in which herons were shot from a car or killed slowly and painfully with illegal traps, as well as one in which a dog was abandoned in the forest and one in which a dog was left for so long Had to hang on a chain outside until he was terminally ill and could only be released immediately.

“You would think that at least animal cruelty to domestic animals such as dogs or cats would be punished more severely because judges and prosecutors also have families and pets. But no, even there there are a lot of diversions, acquittals or petty sentences. Is anyone really surprised that “There are not fewer but more and more cases of animal cruelty?” says Stadler indignantly. “Incredibly, there have never been actual prison sentences for animal cruelty in Austria – despite a two-year sentence!”

Animal thrown into well

Anyone who kicks a Maltese dog to death in Vienna gets 9 months; anyone who throws a gagged and tied dog into the well in Altlengbach and lets it drown gets 8 months. Anyone who executes 500 sheep in Lower Austria without anesthesia, 3 to 10 months. “No, no prison, only for a limited time, and after three years everything is usually wiped out. And these are just the most heinous cases of animal cruelty, the tip of the iceberg,” says Stadler angrily.

“For the neglect of animals or routine animal cruelty, there are usually only ridiculous fines, often even just administrative penalties, especially when it comes to animals used for agricultural purposes. Talking on the phone while driving, driving too fast, parking illegally, neglecting and torturing animals – all the same thing? In “What kind of backward country do we actually live in? Animal protection has been a state goal in the constitution for 10 years. But who knows that? And what effect does that have in practice? It is simply ignored.”

“We are calling on Justice Minister Alma Zadic to increase the penalty for animal cruelty to five years, because the current legal situation is a mockery of the victims,” says Stadler.

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