Page 150

AD ALTA

JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

AN EFORT TO INCREASE THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF ANIMALS IN THE SLOVAK
REPUBLIC

RASTISLAV MUNK

Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law, Šafárikovo
námestie 6, Bratislava, 810 00, Slovak Republic
email:

rastislav.munk@flaw.uniba.sk

Abstract: The author deals with problems related to the protection of the animals in the
Slovak Republic in this article. In the introduction, the author assesses the legal
regulation of the protection of the animals in the Slovak Republic. Subsequently, the
author discusses the legal regulation of the protection of the animals in the Slovak
Republic and expresses its attitude towards the legal regulation of the protection of the
animals in the Slovak Republic, underlining the possibility of adopting legislative
changes. It is also concerned with the Amendment to the Protection Animal Act and
with the practical problems associated with the Amendment to the Protection Animal
Act.

Keywords: protection of the animals, Amendment to the Protection Animal Act,
problems in application practice.

1 Introduction

A stimulus for writing this scientific article comes from the fact
that nowadays, this topic is discussed by the wide public as well
as the expert community in the Slovak Republic. The attention is
paid especially to the legal status of animals in the Slovak
Republic, as well as to the related legal protection of animals in
the Slovak Republic.

This scientific article focuses specifically on legislation related
to animal protection at the national level in the Slovak Republic.
while evaluating this legislation, the attention is paid mainly to
the ongoing legislative changes in the field of legal protection of
animals in the Slovak Republic. After many attempts,
considerations, and promises, the legislative changes started to
be implemented by the Ministry agriculture and rural
development of the Slovak Republic.

There are two basic legal regulations with the force of law
related to the protection of animals in the Slovak Republic.
These are Act no. 39/2007 Coll. on Veterinary Care, as amended
(hereinafter referred to as the "Veterinary Care Act") and Act no.
300/2005 Coll. the Criminal Code, as amended (hereinafter
referred to as the "Criminal Code"). Except these two mentioned
basic legal regulations, there is other subordinate legislation

The Veterinary Care Act, however, does not only deal with the
legal protection of animals, but its subject matter is as follows:

(a) the veterinary requirements for the health of animals,
hatching eggs, semen, embryos, and ova of animals from the
point of animal health as well as requirements for the protection
of animals,
(b) the veterinary requirements for products of animal origin,
including animal by-products and derived products and selected
products of plant origin, in order to protect the health of animals,
(c) veterinary requirements for animals, hatching eggs, and
products of animal origin, including animal by-products in order
to protect human health,
(d) the rights and obligations of natural and legal persons in the
field of veterinary, as well as the professional veterinary
activities and conditions of their realization,
(e) the organization, competence and powers of authorities
performing public administration in the field of veterinary
(f) penalties for breaking the obligations laid down by this Act.

The Criminal Code governs a criminal liability for the animal
abuse - Section 378 of the Criminal Code, as well as a liability

E.g. Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak

Republic no. 143/2012 Coll. on the breeding of dangerous animals; Government
Regulation no. 432/2012 Coll., which Lays down requirements for the protection of
animals at the time of their killing; Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development of the Slovak Republic no. 123/2008 on details of the protection of pets
and on the requirements for quarantine stations and animal shelters.

for neglecting the animal welfare - Section 378a of the Criminal
Code.

However, the comprehensive animal protection legislation in the
Slovak Republic is absent. Under the comprehensive legal
framework, we understand both the definition of the concept of
an animal, as well as the determination of the special legal status
of animals and the determination of the requirements and
conditions for the protection of animals against abuse; the rights
and obligations of natural persons and legal entities in the field
of animal protection; system, scope, and competence of the
authorities performing public administration in the field of
animal protection, as well as the measures and sanctions used to
ensure adequate protection of animals in the Slovak Republic.
The animal protection legislation is a standard in advanced
countries of the European Union. What is more, in such
countries, the animal rights have not only existed in the form of
protection of life and health for a long time, but many European
Union countries have legislation, which deals with animal
welfare. In the Slovak Republic, even until today, we do not
have separate legislation that would regulate the status of
animals and their rights and obligations. The legal protection of
animals in the Slovak Republic is only one of the parts of the
Veterinary Care Act.

In view of the above, we think that the Slovak Republic has one
of the weakest legal regulations providing legal protection for
animals. Let us give you some examples. In the Republic of
Austria, the basic legislation on the protection of animals
constitutes a separate legal regulation - the “Bundesgesetz über
den Schutz der Tiere (Tierschutzgesetz – TSchG)“

. In the

Czech Republic, the basic legal regulation of animal protection
includes a separate legal regulation - "Act no. 246/1992 Coll. on
the

protection of animals against cruelty, as amended (Animal

Welfare Act) ". In the Republic of Poland, the basic legislation
on animal protection is the “Ustawa z dnia 21 sierpnia 1997 r. o

ochronie zwierząt, Ustawa z dnia 16 września 2011 r. o zmianie

ustawy o ochronie zwierząt oraz ustawy o utrzymaniu czystości i

porządku w gminach“.

At the same time, one cannot forget the fact that in the Slovak
Republic, there is the absence of legislation dealing with
restriction and prohibition of performances with animals
(scenting or domesticated) in circuses, or at least established
precise rules and conditions under which animals can perform in
circuses. The Slovak Republic is currently considered to be one
of the most important countries of the European Union in terms
of circuses in which animals perform since there is no legal
regulation restricting the performance of animals in circuses.

On the contrary, in countries such as France, Germany, Hungary,
and other countries of the European Union, animal circuses have
already been completely banned or restricted. This means that
these countries, in addition to the separate animal welfare
legislation, there exists a separate legislation dealing with the
prohibition or restriction of using animals in circuses. For
example, in the Republic of Austria, the legislation on
prohibition of using animals in circuses is as follows – BGBLA
II No. 489/2004 Regulation of the Minister of Health and
Women on the protection, management and involvement of
animals in circuses, variety shows and similar facilities (Animal
Protection Regulation Circus - Tierschutz-Zirkusverordnung
TSch-ZirkV); BGBl II No. 485/2004 Regulation of the Minister
of Health and Women on the minimum requirements for the
keeping of horses and equine, swine, cattle, sheep, goats, deer,
llamas, rabbits, poultry, ostriches and fish culture (1st livestock
Regulation - Tierhaltungsverordnung); BGBl II No. 486/2004
Regulation of the Minister of Health and Women on the keeping
of vertebrates that do not fall under the first Livestock
Regulation, on wildlife with special requirements on the keeping

Animal welfare Act.

- 150 -