Draft bill in Romania: Prison sentences of up to ten years for animal cruelty

Several MPs have drafted a bill that aims to introduce prison sentences of up to ten years for those who torture or kill animals. The Senate adopted the draft bill tacitly last year. However, the members of the Chamber of Deputies’ Legal Committee failed to find common ground on this subject, so the debate was postponed for two weeks, reports local Digi24. The bill's initiators want the intentional killing of an animal to be punishable by imprisonment of 2-7 years. Moreover, those who organize animal fights or torture or mutilate animals would risk the same prison sentences. If the one performing acts of animal cruelty is the owner or the keeper of the animal, the sentence could go up to ten years. Moreover, the fines for less serious cases would also increase from RON 3,000 (EUR 660) to RON 10,000 (EUR 2,200). However, some MPs don’t agree with the new penalties, given that they are similar to those the Criminal Code stipulates for offences of bodily harm and rape. The draft bill has to pass the Chamber of Deputies to come into force. City Hall bans wild animal shows at Bucharest’s Globus Circus Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com