How to properly file a police report about animal cruelty

As children, we were told that we need to love and take care of our little brothers. We were told that they are living beings, just like us, and it is unacceptable to subject them to violence. However, there are people who do such things and even enjoy these types of activities. This is certainly terrible, so such people need to be held accountable. Every citizen may encounter a situation where he sees cruelty to animals. This can happen on the street, on the Internet, or even among friends. This article will talk about what actions need to be taken and where to go in such situations.

Where can I complain?

If you witness a crime against the health or life of an animal, there is no need to panic; just contact the police. At the nearest police department, tell the officer on duty your problem, write a statement, take a notification coupon and wait for a response within 10 days.

To guarantee and be confident that your application will be considered, take a copy of it and a copy of the coupon to the prosecutor’s office if the matter is urgent and urgent.

Read on to find out what liability is provided for cruelty to animals under Article 254 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

How to make an application?

You can file a complaint at any police station; to do this, you need to fill out an application.

It must indicate the following:

• details of the police department (number, name, legal address);
• information about the applicant (full name, registration address);
• facts relating to the unlawful act committed;
• date;
• applicant's signature.

Sample complaint to the police about cruelty to animals.

Experience of other countries

What is the situation in European countries and the USA regarding cruelty to animals: where to go there?

There are no stray animals in the Netherlands. The reason for this is reasonable legislation: the country has a special law on the rights of little brothers. He prescribes strict punishment for such crimes (prison + fine), in addition, there are high taxes on pets so that people think before getting another toy.

Germany is the first state in the world that regulated the rights of our little brothers at the highest level - in the Constitution. There are special organizations for the protection of pets, so a similar question about cruelty to animals - where to go - rarely arises. The country prohibits euthanasia of healthy individuals, there is taxation in this area, there are state shelters, and compulsory lessons are held at school.

In Italy, you can be fined for not walking your dog enough, you face criminal liability for abandoning a dog or cat, and you cannot dye the fur or dock the tail.

In Austria you cannot keep a dog on a chain, use wild animals in a circus, and the state has the right to take your pet away from you.

In India you will not find dolphinariums - the rights of this creature are protected by law.

Switzerland is a leader in animal rights protection. Here, even during legal proceedings, the rights of animals are taken into account, for example, in the case of divorce. Animals, unlike in Russia, are not considered as things. They are not valued at market value.

In the Czech Republic there is a hotline regarding cruelty to animals, where anyone who has witnessed even just a lonely dog ​​without an owner is allowed to call.

In the USA you cannot have more than 9 animals, work is carried out to sterilize pets in accordance with the law.

In Greece, a citizen can give an animal that does not want or cannot keep to a state shelter. In case of cruelty, the prosecutor can seize the pet and prohibit them from having them in the future.

Mostly, animal rights abroad are defended by the police.

The topic of homeless animals, unfortunately, to this day raises many questions that give rise to a huge number of problems. The legislation regulating the treatment of animals in our country is very ambiguous, which allows the courts to interpret it differently.

Professional legal adviser, passionate animal lover and great friend of PETS Maria Gromova

explains how to properly protect animals.

— There are many facts of cruelty to animals. Dog hunters are not even shy about posting their messages on social networks. At the same time, law enforcement agencies are extremely reluctant to respond to all these cases, since they consider this a secondary matter against the background of robberies, thefts, thefts, etc. What steps should those who care about the fate of animals take? What needs to be done so that the police and other investigative/supervisory authorities respond to citizens’ requests and at least begin an investigation, not to mention more serious legal consequences?

— Cruelty to animals is a criminal offense under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It would seem, what else is needed to qualify the actions of criminals and bring them to justice if there is a fact of a crime? Of course, the human factor of law enforcement officers comes into play. Animals are silent and defenseless, protecting their rights seems unnecessary to them... For some reason, in our country, someone still considers it possible to individually determine the value of an animal’s life, which is also legally incorrect.

What can we do? Until caring people show the authorities by the number of appeals that it is time to change something, everything will remain in place.

If you discover cases of animal cruelty, contact the police. You must submit a written application. The more motivated the request, the more difficult it is to refuse. If you discover an act on the Internet, you can make a notarized report of the site inspection, which will be clear evidence of the criminal’s guilt. If you find materials on the Internet that show cruelty to animals, it is advisable to contact Roskomnadzor with a request to close the resource due to the promotion of cruelty. You can contact Roskomnadzor through the form on the official website.

What to do if you witness the shooting and poisoning of animals? Remember that the law is on your side. Article 10 of the Federal Law “On the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare of the Population” prohibits citizens from actions that entail a violation of the rights of other citizens to health protection. Article 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation qualifies the poisoning and shooting of stray animals as arbitrariness. In accordance with Article 20.13. Code of Administrative Offenses, firing a weapon in populated areas or in other places not designated for this purpose is punishable by a fine in the amount of 40 to 50 thousand rubles with confiscation of the weapon and ammunition for it. Moreover, absolutely all courts are unanimous in the opinion that by shooting stray animals, a citizen creates a real danger to the life and health of other people, and this is an encroachment on constitutional rights (for example, the Appeal ruling of the Altai Regional Court dated June 19, 2013 in case No. 33-4495/2013, Appeal ruling of the Orenburg Regional Court dated November 15, 2012 in case No. 33-6383/2012, Appeal ruling of the Voronezh Regional Court dated May 14, 2013 N 33-2329).

It is important that this position of the courts applies to any types of weapons and equipment, including special ones designed for catching animals on the principle of “darts” with sleeping pills - use is prohibited in populated areas and public places. The courts are also guided by Article 1065 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: the danger of causing harm in the future may be the basis for a claim to prohibit activities that create such a danger.

— Should veterinary clinics receiving funds from budgets of different levels accept animals for service free of charge? Do they have any limits on service under the “compulsory medical insurance policy”? What should a volunteer, a pensioner, or just a kind person who wants to save a wounded animal, but does not have money for veterinarians, do?

“Unfortunately, the law and the distribution of budgets do not provide for free treatment of animals, including quotas. Only owners of guide dogs belonging to visually impaired people and participants of the Great Patriotic War, if they have the appropriate documents, disabled people of group I and families with disabled children under 23 years of age can apply free of charge for a free initial clinical examination and consultation. Any other services are provided by public clinics in accordance with the tariffs.

Thus, the question “what to do?” entails the inevitable answer: anything, but on your own, without counting on state help, since at this stage the state does not allocate funds to help animals. Based on this, there are charitable organizations that vitally need donations; volunteer communities; communities on social networks.

— What and to whom can charities dealing with homeless animals complain? What rights do they have and what are the basic responsibilities of authorities at different levels - municipal, district, city?

— First of all, we must remember that the sphere of regulation of relations related to animals is an extremely underfilled legal space. And at the moment we are forming it ourselves, through appeals, the practice of court cases, as well as the analysis of legal norms not directly related to the regulation of animals.

However, a charitable organization registered as a non-profit organization has the full general legal capacity of a legal entity, as well as the special legal capacity of a non-profit charitable organization in accordance with the Federal Law “On Non-Profit Organizations”. In accordance with Article 31.1. of this law, an organization involved in the protection of animals is socially significant, which means it can count on the support of government authorities and constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The law provides for several types of support, including financial, property, information, consulting support, as well as support in the field of training and additional professional education for employees and volunteers of socially oriented non-profit organizations. However, the law classifies such assistance from the state to an organization as a right, and not as an obligation of government agencies.

In addition, there is Article 18 of the Federal Law “On Charitable Organizations,” which guarantees and ensures the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and legal entities participating in charitable activities. Officials who interfere with the exercise of the rights of citizens and legal entities to carry out charitable activities are liable in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

So, how to get these guarantees and how to interact with the authorities.

1. Obtaining financing. A charitable organization must submit a motivated project to the governing bodies of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. In case of refusal at the subject level, you must contact directly the relevant committee of the Russian government.

2. Lawmaking. Organizations have the right to interact with authorities at the level of proposals to improve the rules of law both at the local and state levels. However, such a right is not directly enshrined, so its implementation remains at the discretion of the state, just like the situation with financing.

3. Public control. Non-profit organizations have the right to analyze the activities of commercial and state/municipal structures, and report to regulatory authorities about violations and the presence of a corruption component.

The charity also has the right to contact the police in cases of cruelty to animals. In case of violations related to the keeping of animals in shelters, it is necessary to send motivated and confirmed complaints to municipal authorities. To do this, you need to find or request regulations for keeping animals and tender documentation. Then you need to draw up a motivated act of violation in the presence of volunteers, representatives of charitable organizations, and other possible interested parties. Make a written application with evidence attached to the regulatory authorities: directly to the owner of the shelter (government/prefecture/municipality), to a higher authority over the owner; to the prosecutor's office regarding the actions of the management company and possible collusion with the owner of the shelter, which constitutes signs of a corruption component. Evidence can be drawn up acts, certificates, photographs, videos, written requests to the Criminal Code and responses.

“We know that due to sanitary and epidemiological supervision and other inspection authorities it is extremely difficult to open a shelter. This includes rent, sanitary and epidemiological standards, and so on. Hence the private foster care in apartments. Accordingly, there is a risk of complaints from neighbors. How is it possible, based on current legal norms, to build a mutually acceptable coexistence of foster care apartments and neighbors who are not happy with whining animals?

— In his house, apartment, or other premises that a person has the right to dispose of, he has the right to organize foster care for animals. However, for this it is necessary to ensure compliance with sanitary standards for keeping animals: the presence of running water, a constant power supply, the absence of rodents and parasites.

It is also necessary to ensure that the noise level does not exceed permissible standards, because the overexposure will be located in a populated area, and even more so in an apartment building. Since the activity will not be commercial in nature, and the owner of the foster home does not intend to make a profit, there is no need to create a legal entity and register as an individual entrepreneur.

It is possible to conclude agreements for the temporary keeping of animals free of charge. They must indicate the period for which the animal is accepted, the conditions for preparing food or the name of the food. It is also necessary to indicate who pays for the food of the animals and how this payment is reimbursed. You can include in the contract the obligations of the owner of the foster home: high-quality care of the animal, compliance with food and walking standards, provision of assistance in the case of the animal, and the customer’s obligations: pick up the animal within the prescribed period, provide reliable information about the animal (health status, vaccinations, deworming, behavioral characteristics) .

It is highly advisable to microchip animals in foster care and have veterinary passports on them - this is the only way to establish that the animals belong to someone, because as we know, according to the law, animals are property, and in order to avoid controversial situations, it is necessary to document and understand whose property it is. they are property.

Thus, subject to basic sanitary standards and rules of silence, no one has the right to prohibit overexposure. However, we often encounter human misunderstanding of keeping animals, not because they are a nuisance, but because they simply exist. Therefore, it is advisable for the owner of the overexposure to protect himself from false accusations. To do this, you can draw up inspection reports of the premises in the presence of witnesses to check for the absence of violations and factors that create discomfort for other residents, as well as carry out periodic photo and video shooting.

Despite not all of the above, the owner of the overexposure must remember that if there is real discomfort for the residents, keeping the overexposure is unacceptable.

PETS is very grateful to Maria Gromova

for her professional legal advice. If you have any legal questions related to animals, write to us, we will be happy to answer them.

Sanctions and criminal liability

According to this article, harm caused to an animal for hooligan or selfish reasons implies both financial liability (a fine of up to 80,000 rubles) and a very real punishment (correctional labor for up to 360 hours, or arrest for up to 6 months).

If there are aggravating circumstances (for example, the commission of a crime by a group of people, actions that resulted in the death of an animal, a crime committed with particular cruelty and sadism), more severe sanctions are applied.

This can be a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, correctional labor for up to 460 hours, imprisonment for up to 2 years.

Read about what a special order in court is here.

How should witnesses to bullying act?

It is unpleasant to witness someone poisoning a dog, maiming a cat for the sake of laughter, or mocking another animal. Such a picture can cause stress in an adult, and it can have even more serious consequences for a child. Where to turn in this case.

ATTENTION! Punishment for these illegal and immoral actions is provided for in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation only by Article 245. Unfortunately, it does not clearly define the elements of the crime and its punishment.

Often the decision on whether a flayer is entitled to a fine or prison is made by the court.
But in any case, you should complain about such a person. His actions are inhumane, cruel, and may have even more terrible consequences. The first authority where you can go to file a police complaint is the internal affairs bodies. But they will definitely require proof of a crime. Therefore, you should record witness testimony or film the incident . There is also the Animal Welfare Society and other similar organizations that fight flayers.

Complaints about injustice

If you disagree with the decision, or if no response is received, the applicant can complain to a higher authority - the prosecutor's office or court. Anonymous complaints are not considered by law.

Protecting animals from cruelty: where else to turn? Along with the police, you can also go to special public organizations. They cause a stir in the media, the case is made public, and the perpetrators are brought to justice.

An example is the Astrakhan region. Residents there boldly turn to the media for help, publish massive cases of harm to pets, and therefore the question among Astrakhan citizens about cruelty to animals – where to turn – arises very rarely. Thus, in 2021, the newspaper “Komsomolets Kaspiya” published a brutal case of mass destruction of unsold kittens from the poultry market. Thus, future cases of cruelty to animals were stopped, and the police took control of the situation.

Normative base

The type of offense in question is enshrined only in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely in Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

There are similar types of administrative offenses established in some constituent entities of Russia.

The Code of Administrative Offenses of some constituent entities of Russia and regional laws contain the following offenses:

• rules for keeping animals;
• transportation rules;
• procedure for conducting events with animals;
• cruelty to animals and others.

Moscow Law No. 45

Regional law of the Leningrad region from N 61-oz

Features of the crime

What distinguishes this criminal act is the main victim – the animal. It doesn’t have to be a pet; absolutely any creature can suffer at the hands of a person. In connection with such an unusual victim, certain difficulties arise:

• The animal cannot complain to anyone;
• It will not be able to report to the police;
• To prove the illegality of a person’s actions against an animal, it is sometimes necessary to observe its actions for a long time.

People observed to be involved in criminal activities raise suspicions that their psyche is not functioning properly.

Cruelty to animals closely borders on various examinations and makes one wonder whether such a person is safe for his environment. Most likely not, many psychiatrists believe. Therefore, if you recognize a potential criminal in someone you know, try to protect yourself and your loved ones from him.

This video highlights a horrific case of animal cruelty:

Concept and characteristics

Domestic and wild animals are subject to cruelty. From the point of view of the law, there are property relations between an animal and a person - a pet qualifies as property.

List of actions (or inactions) characterizing cruel treatment of animals:

• His death;
• Torture;
• Beatings;
• Strangulation;
• Movement restrictions;
• Conducting experiments;
• Causing unnecessary suffering;
• Bleeding of animals;
• Setting one beast against another;
• Actions of a sexual nature;
• Deliberate persecution by hunger, thirst;
• Inaction when the animal freezes, overheats, etc.

Most often, neighbors and concerned passers-by report animal cruelty to law enforcement agencies. Often, owners or other persons do not understand that they are committing a crime under the guise of the educational process.

Horrifying statistics

According to animal cruelty statistics, men are the most likely to attack animals. Percentage of crimes by age groups:

• 14-17 years old – more than 40%;
• 18-24 years old – 15%;
• 25-30 years – 30%;
• 30-40 years – 15%.

As you can see, the risk groups for cruelty to animals are teenagers and middle-aged people. According to research results, about 70% of people who committed this crime were brought up in difficult and/or disadvantaged conditions. But still, there are cases when an animal was offended unintentionally, it was an accident.

Read on to find out whether there is a special law to protect animals from cruelty and what the criminal code says about this problem.

Composition of the crime and legal norms

In recent years, the topic of cruel treatment of our little brothers has been raised both in the media and in the State Duma more than once. Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has long been in force, guaranteeing punishment for those guilty of inappropriate treatment of animals. Recently it has undergone major changes, and now the crime is strictly material.

• The subject is defined as a person over sixteen years of age.
• The object is an animal, the associated objective side is the infliction of severe injuries, bringing to a serious condition, murder.

Discussions have recently begun and a bill on administrative punishment for this crime has even been introduced, but has not yet been implemented. Two new articles may appear in the Administrative Code:

• Direct abuse;
• Public appeals, public justification of criminal acts against animals.

Read on to find out where to go to complain about animal cruelty.

State Duma deputies propose to introduce an additional type of liability for cruelty to lesser brothers. About this in the video below:

The cat won't be offended

The line is currently operating in pilot mode in Kursk. Citizens can call every day from 8.00 to 20.00 toll-free number 8 (800) 600-70-82. The line will be tested for three months, then it is planned to extend the experience to other regions. But already in the first days of the line’s operation, calls were received from all regions.

In the future, it is planned to raise the issue of creating a special zoo police

“We understood that the problem and relevance of such a hotline had been brewing for a long time, but we did not expect such a flow of incoming calls right away,” admits the initiator of the project, deputy of the Kursk City Assembly, member of the Chamber of Young Legislators under the Federation Council, Dmitry Guliyev. — In the first 24 hours alone, we received more than a hundred calls from all over Russia: Kursk, Rostov, Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad, Omsk and even Vladivostok. On the first day, we received calls around the clock, although we initially announced that the hotline was open from 8.00 to 20.00, seven days a week.”

Now the hotline operates at the deputy’s reception office. “However, we already understand that we need to expand and think more globally about solving the problem of protecting animals and people from animals,” continues Dmitry Guliyev. “To achieve this, we will soon begin working on developing zoo police regulations together with partner human rights organizations.”

All requests received on the hotline are recorded and distributed among specialists who, if necessary, will respond to the call. Further, human rights organizations, police and local Housing and Communal Services Committees will be involved in the work and problem solving. And in the future, according to the project organizers, a zoo police should be created.

The hotline will also help those who have suffered from animal attacks. They will be provided with free legal, medical and psychological assistance. Those who see an animal injured or in need of help will also be able to contact the line.

By the way

The list of dangerous dog breeds compiled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been reduced to 13 items. This was stated by the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection Vladimir Burmatov, RIA Novosti reports.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has compiled a list of dogs that pose a potential danger to people. This list includes representatives of 69 breeds. Including Shar Pei, Ainu, Bull Terrier, and mixed breeds. “The updated list was based on proposals, including from the Russian Canine Federation. Perhaps it will still be adjusted,” TASS quotes Interior Ministry spokesman Alexei Bezzubov.

The concept of an offense according to the legislation of the Russian Federation

When determining the elements of a crime and assigning criminal liability, it is necessary to clearly understand what constitutes cruelty to animals .

This offense includes such actions as:

1. Beatings.
2. Torture.
3. Violation of the rules for keeping a pet (poor conditions under which there is a risk of exhaustion or injury to the pet).
4. Destruction of the natural habitat of an animal.
5. Killing (except for cases of euthanizing an animal in a special medical institution using drugs approved for this purpose).
6. Other illegal actions against animals.

Cruelty to an animal does not usually mean measures that prevent the reproduction of pets (only if sterilization was performed under appropriate medical conditions), euthanasia of an animal due to health conditions, or hunting permitted by law.

It is important to understand the motive for the illegal action committed. Thus, harm to a pet can be caused for hooligan or selfish reasons.

There are also crimes committed with particular cruelty , for example, using sadistic methods (when the pain of an animal gives the criminal moral pleasure), or in the presence of minors (in this case, harm is caused not only directly to the animal, but also to the child’s psyche).

Corpus delicti

When identifying an offense, it is necessary to determine whether it contains elements of a crime. To do this, it is important to determine the subject, object and subject of the unlawful act committed.

The subject in this case is the offender himself, that is, a person over the age of 16 who intentionally harmed the animal.

Persons under 16 years of age, as well as those who, due to any mental disorders, cannot fully understand their actions and their consequences, are exempt from criminal liability.

The subjective side of the crime includes the following actions:

1. Causing harm to an animal due to excessive control or revenge, for example, when an owner severely punishes a pet for the slightest offense.
2. Failure to comply with the conditions for keeping a pet, for example, if an animal (most often a dog) is deprived of food for a long time in order to develop aggressive behavior in it.
3. Committing a crime for fun, from hooligan, sadistic motives (for example, killing an animal for the sake of honing shooting skills, harming a pet in the presence of other persons).

The object of the offense is the moral norms accepted in modern society , which proclaims a humane attitude towards our smaller brothers.

The subject of the crime is an animal that is subjected to illegal actions on the part of a person (subject).

At the same time, as follows from judicial practice, only mammals and birds are considered to be the subject of a crime. Fish, insects, reptiles, and amphibians are not such.

The objective side of the offense involves the death or serious injury of the animal, posing a real threat to the health of the pet.

Development of amendments to the law

The public does not want to put up with a loyal attitude towards cruelty and irresponsibility. At this time, there are active discussions in various layers of society about new amendments to Article 245. Adults, by mocking their “lesser brothers,” create a negative example for the younger generation , and this is also a great danger.

• Among the amendments that can be made to articles for baiting or killing animals is punishment for broadcasting sadistic acts against dogs and cats via the Internet. The elements of this crime are quite serious, since the video can be shown in front of a child.
• Help in toughening the punishment for torturing a person over an animal can be provided by a petition on the government website. Its active signing will speed up the adoption of amendments.

Among the new proposals from the public and party structures are the introduction of criminal liability for involving dogs in brutal fights without rules, the introduction of fair punishment for pitting animals, and an increase in the fine for torture and killing of pets.

If the criminal is found to be guilty of injuring an animal, he, as one of the new and promising bills proposes, must pay for treatment and rehabilitation. It is especially necessary to punish those individuals who have repeatedly tortured or poisoned dogs, cats, and other representatives of the fauna.

IMPORTANT! Voting for new bills and amendments that significantly increase liability for crimes against wildlife should be the work of all concerned citizens. Cruelty towards a dog, for example, can soon develop into cruelty towards a defenseless child or adult.

What actions can be considered cruel?

The law under this category implies causing harm and suffering to living beings for hooligan reasons, for self-interest, using sadism or in the presence of a minor.

To recognize actions as cruel, one of these signs is sufficient.

In many countries, including Russia, such an act is criminally punishable.

Specific actions can be expressed as:

• beatings;
• habitat destruction;
• failure to comply with maintenance standards, resulting in exhaustion, injury, or mutilation of animals;
• torture;
• cruel euthanasia (deprivation of life without special drugs);
• other inhumane actions.

It is also worth noting that in practice, not all vertebrates, but only higher vertebrates: birds and mammals, are classified as “animals”. Fish, amphibians, insects, and reptiles do not belong to them. That is, if you swat a mosquito or crush a spider or an annoying cockroach, then these actions will not be regarded as cruelty to animals. Many people probably know where to go if they are bothered by larger rodents (rats or mice) - the deratization service. At the same time, such activities, like disinfestation, do not fall under this category, since they are aimed at protecting people from harmful effects.

The following are not considered ill-treatment:

• measures to prevent reproduction;
• euthanasia according to indications or without suffering;
• destruction due to epidemic;
• legal hunting;
• self-defense (when attacked by yard dogs and other animals).

Criminal liability

So, you've seen animal cruelty: where to turn? First, let's look at responsibility. It is provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; for it to occur, it is necessary to have a crime under Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The subject is a sane person over 16 years of age. Persons under the specified age and mentally retarded persons who do not understand the meaning of their actions are not subject to liability.

The legislator sees only intent as a form of guilt: direct (the person wants to cause harm) or indirect (he is aware of the prohibition, consciously allows it, but does not want it). The first category includes cases of sadism, when a person takes pleasure in watching an animal suffer. An example of indirect intent is ordinary mischief due to the fact that there is nothing to do.

Motives: self-interest (forcing animals to participate in fights for profit), hooliganism.

The subjective side is characterized by the following actions:

• revenge: the dog bit in a game, the owner beat him;
• training to aggression: deprivation of food for anger;
• status enhancement: the animal is used as a target for shooting a gun;
• breaking the law for fun: public torture;
• sadism: mentally unhealthy behavior of a person for the purpose of obtaining pleasure from illegal actions.

The object in this case is the morality of society as a whole, which is associated with human relations with animals. The subject is wild and domestic animals.

The objective side consists in the commission of actions (inaction), the occurrence of a result (injury, death), and the presence of a cause-and-effect relationship between them.

An example of inaction would be being left in the cold, without food, water, etc. In this case, only the person who was responsible for maintaining the animal can be held accountable.

Arbitrage practice

It was noted above that this crime is predominantly committed by men, and therefore the practice is mainly against them.

Examples:

• The man threw a noose around the dog and dragged it for an hour and a half; realizing that the dog was not dying, he decided to hang it. For a long time, the dog could not escape and made sounds indicating that it was being hurt (whining, wheezing). The dog's death was due to compression of the neck during hanging. The man confessed to his crime. The court sentenced him to restriction of freedom for a period of 4 months.
• A man in a state of alcoholic intoxication, out of hooligan motives, using an insignificant reason (the barking of a dog), approached her and hit her several times with a hard object, as a result of which the hind limb was broken, which subsequently led to its amputation. Next, the man began to strangle the pet with an iron chain, causing her painful suffering (the dog whined and moaned). The man did not admit guilt in court. The court imposed a sentence of correctional labor for a period of 5 years.

Judicial practice has not yet emerged since the introduction of the new animal cruelty law, but it is understood that it will reduce crimes against animals in the future.

What does the law say?

The need to protect animals was only recognized in the 20th century. In 1987, the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals was adopted. The principles for treating our smaller brothers were the prohibition of causing them suffering and leaving them to their fate.

Among the domestic Russian legislation, we can highlight articles prohibiting such actions:

• Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 137, 241);
• Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Article 245).

As you can see, there are, unfortunately, very few sources of law in this area in our country. The topic has not been developed, there are a lot of gaps in the legislation, so the courts, when making decisions in such cases, are based on their inner conviction.

For comparison: starting from 2021 in the United States, a similar crime is classified as a serious crime, along with murder and arson, and the corresponding punishment is imprisonment, a fine of up to $100,000 (in Oregon for aggravated cruelty), and in some regions - treatment by a psychiatrist. A number of states have a public registry of such sadists, and anyone can check to see if their neighbor is one of these individuals.

Since 1999, the State Duma has had a draft Federal Law “On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty,” which has probably already been forgotten.

Currently, special websites have been created on the Internet so that residents do not even have to ask: where to complain about cruelty to animals? For example, the Angry Citizen website directly redirects your complaint to the competent authorities; you can attach photographs to your appeal for clarity.

Criminal liability and punishment for cruelty to animals

According to the existing article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation No. 245, a person (group of persons) who injures an animal will receive punishment in the form of:

• Cash payments up to 80,000 rubles (300,000 rubles for a group of persons);
• Mandatory work up to 360 hours (up to 480 hours);
• Correctional labor for up to a year (forced labor for 2 years);
• Arrest for six months (imprisonment for 2 years);
• Restrictions on freedom for a year.

According to the prepared articles of the Code of Administrative Offences, an attacker, if he is an ordinary citizen, can receive a fine of 5 thousand, an official will be punished with 10-15 thousand, a legal person - with 50-100 thousand rubles.

Now let's look at some cases from the practice of applying Art. 254 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on cruelty to animals.

Is administrative punishment possible for crimes against animals?

Administrative responsibility for cruelty towards representatives of fauna is considered at the level of regional legislation in different regions of Russia.
Administrative offenses include those crimes against animals that result in injury, disfigurement, or death. This is how this issue is considered, for example, in St. Petersburg. The criminal against whom the application was filed is subject to a fine of up to 5,000 rubles. If the investigation shows that the baiting of animals was carried out by a legal entity, it is ordered to pay a fine of up to 100,000 rubles.

In the country of Russia, each region has its own law defining administrative punishment for cruelty and irresponsibility towards pets and other animals . Therefore, if such illegal actions are committed by adults or minors, it is imperative to contact the responsible authorities to punish the perpetrator.

Statistics in Russia

According to statistics, this crime is the most latent (about 10 percent are registered).

The reason for this may be objective and subjective reasons:

• Objective reasons include the fact that the state does not have the means or ability to control this type of offense (there is no way to detect it).
• Subjective reasons include the difficult provability of this criminal act, so officials resort to not initiating or registering such offenses. Another reason emerges from the court – these are statistical indicators. By not registering crimes, law enforcement agencies thereby increase detection rates.

Absolute indicators of registered crimes for flaying.

In 2021, 82 people were prosecuted for animal cruelty, of whom only one received a real sentence.

Relative indicators depending on age are as follows:

Most of these crimes are committed by men.

Flayering on the Internet

The most common place where you can encounter animal cruelty is, of course, the Internet. There are numerous websites and forums where abuse is demonstrated. These can be closed private groups on social networks or publicly displayed materials on any Internet resource. The specificity of crimes committed on the Internet is that illegal actions can be committed anonymously. In this case, the criminal will not be so easy to find. What to do when you see animal abuse on the Internet?

What to do if you see such content on the Internet

It is impossible to calmly look at photographs or videos of cruel treatment, so concerned citizens certainly want to punish the flayer. After seeing animal cruelty material on the Internet, a concerned citizen should try to find the location of this person. For example, if photos or videos of bullying were found on someone’s page on social networks, you can go to the profile description and see what city this person lives in.

In addition, posts on social networks often contain geolocation, which can also help.

But it also happens that the flayers understand that they are committing illegal actions, so they hide their location. However, if you look hard enough, you can find it. For example, go to your friends’ pages and see their place of residence. The location of the criminal will be very useful for the police, it will be much easier to find him. If you couldn’t find the city where the criminal is located, you will have to turn this case over to the police. However, in this case, the flayer may simply not be found, since there will be very little information about him.

Blocking sites with flaying in the Russian Federation

Propaganda of cruelty to animals is prohibited in Russia. However, today there is a lot of material on the Internet that is in the public domain. Children may come across such content and it may negatively affect their mental state. According to Federal Law No. 149, government authorities are required to block sites containing animal cruelty content. And every peaceful citizen should be partial to acts of a cruel nature towards weak creatures. That is why every person needs to help eliminate abuse and respond when they see it.

Where to go if a crime is discovered?

Where can citizens complain?

A witness to violence against an animal can file a complaint at the nearest police station.

The officer on duty is obliged to accept the application and issue the witness a special coupon indicating the date of acceptance of the application, details of the department and data of the employee who accepted it.

At the same time, the person submitting the application must be warned about the sanctions imposed for knowingly false information and denunciation (Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The submitted application is reviewed within 3-10 working days.

After this, the applicant is given an official response, which indicates information about the institution of a criminal case, the transfer of materials to the relevant subordinate units, or the reasons for refusing to initiate a case.

Can you sue for insult? Find out the answer right now.

Where to go

Witnesses of crimes against representatives of nature must determine which category such an act belongs to:

• in cases where the offense falls under the category of ill-treatment and entails criminal penalties, law enforcement agencies are authorized to deal with such incidents;
• Violations of Federal Law No. 498 on keeping animals and responsible treatment of them must be suppressed by state supervisory authorities, in accordance with Article 19 of this document. These include the veterinary supervision service, which is part of Rosselkhoznadzor, as well as the bodies of Rosprirodnadzor.

Please note: in every city there are animal protection societies, whose contacts can be found on the Internet or social networks.
They can tell you where to go and help you file a complaint. To attract public attention, you can contact the media. This becomes especially relevant when a statement about violation of animal rights is ignored by authorized bodies.

Police

Law enforcement agencies are required to accept a report of a crime regardless of the place and time of its commission. A crime report can be submitted to any police department or local police officer, however, in order to speed up the review process, it is better to submit it to the duty station at the place where the crime was committed.

However, it is worth keeping in mind that in cases of violation of animal rights, statements are reluctantly accepted, and criminal cases are extremely rarely initiated. Therefore, the applicant must be determined and not succumb to the duty officer’s arguments about insufficient data or lack of evidence. It must be remembered that a representative of law enforcement agencies is obliged to accept a statement about a crime committed or being prepared and take all measures to solve or prevent it (Article 12 of the Law “On the Police”).

Sample application

Can be done in writing or orally, in accordance with Article 141 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. If it is done orally, the officer on duty must draw up a protocol, which the applicant then signs if he agrees with what is stated. The written statement is drawn up according to the following structure:

• the addressee is indicated in the header of the document: full name, position and title of the head of the department;
• applicant details: full name, registration address, contact phone number;
• the essence of what happened: events indicating date, place and time, in chronological order, without emotional descriptions, only facts;
• requirements: initiate a criminal case under Article 245 of the Russian Federation against the specified person, or establish the identity of the offender and bring him to justice;
• indicate that the applicant is aware of liability for false denunciation in accordance with Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
• list of supplied materials (for example, photo or video);
• signature, date;
• if there are witnesses, they write at the end of the statement “I, full name, fully confirm the above” and put their signatures.

Important: An anonymous application will not be accepted, so the identity of the applicant must always be identified.

The document is registered in the journal and is assigned a number by which you can track the progress of the review. Within 3 days from the date of registration, a decision is made to initiate a criminal case or refuse. If a case is initiated, the investigator in this case is obliged to inform the applicant about the progress of the investigation at least once a month. The preliminary investigation must be carried out within 2 months (Article 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). Based on its results, if the accused (suspect) is detained, a court hearing is scheduled, where the judge makes a decision on his guilt or innocence.

Read more: How to write a complaint to the Police

Supervisory authorities

If an offense against animals is not classified as criminal, its suppression is within the powers of the supervisory authorities defined in Article 19 of Federal Law No. 498. You should also seek their help if law enforcement officials still refuse to accept the application. The following departments are authorized to control this area of ​​legal relations:

1. Rosprirodnadzor protects both flora and fauna. You can send an electronic appeal on the website of the main department rpn.gov.ru/appeal, or you can select a regional unit in the window above, where contacts (addresses and telephone numbers) will be indicated in the field on the left.
2. Rosselkhoznadzor - its division is the Federal Veterinary Surveillance Service, which is responsible for monitoring domestic and stray animals. In the electronic reception on the department’s website www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/ereception you can send a complaint or ask a question.
3. Ministry of Culture - if offenses are committed by a petting zoo and other similar establishments, you can also send a complaint to the territorial department of the Ministry of Culture, since it is authorized to control the cultural and entertainment sector.
4. Rospotrebnadzor and housing inspection - these authorities should be contacted if the complaint concerns the conditions of keeping animals in city apartments, which violates standards and disturbs neighbors. An electronic appeal can be submitted to the address of the central division rospotrebnadzor.ru/feedback/hotline2.php, but for speedy consideration it is better to send it to the territorial division.

We recommend reading:

• How to write a complaint to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
• How to write a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor
• How to write a complaint to the Housing Inspectorate

How to file a complaint

A complaint about violation of animal rights is drawn up in any form, in compliance with the rules of official appeals. The following information must be provided:

• name of the organization, full name of the head,
• Full name, address of the applicant, telephone number,
• the essence of the appeal, indicating the dates and facts of the offense with references to laws,
• attached documents (evidence materials),
• date, signature.

Sample complaint to Rosprirodnadzor about cruelty to animals

The document is sent by registered mail with notification, or delivered in person to the department office. The response must be sent within 30 days, and if additional time is required to conduct an investigation or examination, the applicant is notified of this.

Animal Cruelty in 2021

It was noted above that at the end of 2021, Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was expanded and tightened, and new qualifying criteria appeared.

In this regard, the composition of the crime has changed: the subjective side has been expanded, the objective side of the crime has been slightly changed.

Corpus delicti

The components of any offense are: object, subject, objective and subjective side.

Let's look at each element separately.

Object of crime

This is public morality, the relationship that develops between man and the animal world, since man is a combination of biological and social properties. It is biological properties that unite people with animals, since humans and animals are part of living nature. The second property is distinctive - a person lives and develops in society, has consciousness.

Due to the fact that people and animals have biological properties in common, the state needs to regulate the relationship of people to animals (on the contrary, this is not possible), preventing actions aimed at causing pain and suffering to representatives of other species of living nature.

You will find a lot of information about types of fraud on the Internet on our website.

Where to go to get the beatings removed? Find out here.

Subject of the offense

These are animals, but not all of them! The animals that the state protects include higher vertebrates - mammals and birds, and it does not matter whose property they are or whether they are even wild.

This means that fish, insects, and invertebrates are not the subject of the crime.

Subjects

These include a 16-year-old person and older persons.

Objective side

Consists of two alternative actions:

• resulting in the death of an animal;
• led to his injury.

This means that the animal was damaged in such a way that its anatomical properties were damaged (deprivation of limbs, removal of eyes).

A crime can be expressed in both actions and inactions:

• Actions can be: organizing fights between animals or beating them, bullying them.
• Inaction is expressed in indifference to the animal, that is, deprivation of food, water, and failure to provide assistance.

Subjective side

Expressed in direct and indirect intent.

This also includes the motive for which the offense was committed - selfish or hooligan motives:

• Selfish motives manifest themselves in making a profit (organizing fights and receiving material benefits from this), or, on the contrary, getting rid of costs (very rare, but implies killing an animal as an “economic cost”).
• Hooligan motives are the manifestation by a criminal of disdain for animals by demonstrating his actions to others, ignoring public norms of morality and morality.

After the adoption of the new version of Art. 245 of the Criminal Code, another category of the subjective side has appeared - this is the purpose for which the crime is committed.

Thus, cruel treatment in order to cause an animal to suffer or suffer pain is now also criminally punishable, thereby the legislator has expanded the subjective side.

Where to go?

If children or adults abuse their own or other people’s pets or wild animals, it is necessary to show their active citizenship and report this to law enforcement agencies.

To do this, you need to come to the nearest internal affairs department (police), report the incident to the duty officer and write a statement.

After ten days, a reasoned response to the application must be received (refusal or initiation of a criminal case).

If the answer is negative, you can appeal it to the chief of police, the prosecutor or in court.

By showing civic activity, a person helps the state fight crime.

After all, human rights activists cannot keep track of everyone, and for such a crime as flaying, which is revealed and proven very difficult, it will be almost impossible to do this.

How to write an application?

The Criminal Procedure Code makes it possible to submit an application both orally and in writing:

• In the first case, the police officer will draw up a report and give it to the applicant against signature.
• In the second case, you can write the application yourself at home or at the branch of the authorized body.

When drawing up an application at home, you must adhere to some mandatory registration rules:

• The application is drawn up in the name of the first head of the police department, indicating his full name, position, and rank.
• Next comes the water part, where the applicant’s details are indicated (full name, year of birth, place of residence, telephone number).
• The descriptive part describes in detail the circumstances of the incident: what was seen, and what actions were defined as criminal (beating, abuse of a dog, a neighbor does not feed his pet). The time and place of the offense are indicated.
• The final part is the operative part, where the requirements are indicated (to stop the crime, to find the criminal).

It will be easier to draw up a statement at law enforcement agencies; they will provide you with a sample statement and help you express your thoughts correctly and consistently.

How to prove a fact?

Cruelty to animals can be proven using the following evidence:

• witness's testimonies;
• videos or photos indicating cruelty to animals;
• forensic medical examination to determine the degree of harm caused to the animal.

Responsibility and punishment

There is administrative (at the regional level) and criminal liability (at the federal level) for flaying. They differ in the degree of harm caused to the animal and the size of the maximum punishment.

Any subject of the Russian Federation has the right to establish administrative liability for cruelty to animals. There is no such rule at the federal level, although there were attempts to introduce it in 2015.

Administrative (fines)

In different regions, sanctions for this type of offense are slightly different in size.

Thus, administrative sanctions are provided in Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Republic of Buryatia, and the Altai Territory.

The sanctions are shown in the table below:

*F.l. – individuals, d.l. – officials, legal entity – legal entities.

Criminal under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

According to Part 1 of Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who has committed an unlawful act may be punished from a fine to a real term of imprisonment:

• Fine – up to 80,000 rubles.
• Income from wages or other source for a period of 6 months.
• Mandatory work – 360 hours.
• Correctional labor – up to 1 year.
• Restriction of freedom – up to 1 year.
• Arrest – up to 6 months.
• Imprisonment – ​​up to 3 years.

For qualified personnel under Part 2 of Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation the punishment is as follows:

• Fine – 100-300 thousand rubles.
• Income from wages or other source for a period of 1 to 2 years.
• Forced labor – up to 5 years.
• Imprisonment – ​​3-5 years.

Find out the age of criminal responsibility in our article.

Read about the specifics of compensation for damages by the culprit of an accident here.

What is the penalty for attempted murder of two or more persons? Details are here.

Regarding minors

Children over the age of 16, as a general rule, are subjects of a criminal offense, which means they are independently responsible for the unlawful acts committed.

But minors cannot bear the same responsibility as adult criminals; child criminals are even kept separately; educational colonies have been specially created for them.

How much do they give to minors for a similar crime?

According to the main composition:

• Fine – 1000-50000 rubles.
• Amount from source of income – from 2 weeks to 6 months.
• Mandatory work – 40-160 hours.
• Correctional labor – up to 1 year.
• Restriction of freedom – up to 2 months.

According to the qualifying criteria, the minor faces a punishment of imprisonment from 3 to 5 years, the remaining sanctions are within the limits of those listed above.

Children from 16 to 17 years of age are not subject to arrest or forced labor; according to the basic rules, imprisonment cannot be imposed.

The child is cruel to pets. What to do?

We put an equal sign between the concepts of “childhood” and “kindness”. But often children do not distinguish between good and evil: they show cruelty and abuse pets . What to do if you notice this in a child ? Psychologist Yuri Pozhidaev advises

The conversation took place live on the “Family Formula” program on Teos radio. The host of the program, Elvira Chipenko, talks with Yuri Pozhidaev. Yuri voiced the reasons why this can happen to a child, when it is really time to contact a psychologist for advice, and when you can simply talk and correct this behavior through the educational process.

– Hello everyone, friends, we have a tough topic on the air : a child is cruel to pets, what should I do ? We have all heard about stories where teenagers or pets in their yards .

At home such , suppose happen nevertheless , can notice that the child has an inclination or desire to teach an animal , to somehow experiment on it .

The parents are shocked - to be honest I understand them . , would be shocked when five- year-old honey bun a girl picks up stretches a cat . What to do in such situations, when you a psychologist even a psychiatrist God forbid ?

- Yes, dear listeners - maybe there was such a difficulty in your family, something similar to what we announced today, and you will write how it happened, how you got out of this situation, or maybe you left everything as it was. Maybe your child, as my mother used to say, has “grown up”, and the need to solve the problem itself has disappeared.

Well, of course, all this is alarming, and for some reason Elvira presented her parents as poor and unhappy in this situation. I want to say that some parents don’t pay attention to this at all, and they, on the contrary, egg on their children and say: “Well, come on, torture it some more, torture the dog, pull out its tooth!” Unfortunately, there are different parents...

There are also parents who provoke their children to experiment in this life. They catch a cockchafer and begin to tear off its wings, then its legs, so that the child can see that life is finite. Maybe they even put a philosophical meaning into this, because there are such families. For me there is no question whether such families are normal or not.

- Why , Yuri? Why is there a need to hurt someone ?

– Before the broadcast, I advised one woman, we talked about domestic violence. Her relative exhibits domestic violence and physical abuse of children. He has an older son, who is 20 years old, and he still beats him with a belt - I’m not talking about emotional abuse. And the entire large family - five children and a wife - are constantly in this position.

Naturally, when a person shows violence towards his loved ones, animals - our smaller brothers - are not taken into account. That is, it goes without saying - to show not compassion to a dog, but, on the contrary, cruelty.

– We have already talked about such cases in the family . But when it comes to pets , this cannot but outrage, because they are more defenseless than ...

– I found statistics: 30% of children who witness domestic violence do the same to animals.

If a child observes domestic violence in if for example dad mom if beat what he will show violence towards animals .

This is 30%, and therefore in some Western countries there is such a practice: if they record that a child is violent towards animals, then most likely there is violence in the family, so you need to work with this entire family.

It rarely happens that a child does this suddenly, out of the blue - if the child is not one, not two, not three years old, because children who are still small cannot understand that you cannot pull a cat by the tail.

We see how little kids, who are 1-2 years old and have learned to walk , run after the cat, with their somehow .

Cats are usually afraid of small children ; they retreat somewhere , hide . However , some cats are given, perhaps out of into the clutches of small .

And the second point is why children can show violence: because they have curiosity, that is, “what’s inside,” how the kitten works inside. Maybe the child has some anatomical roots in the family tree, and he is interested in what is inside, and some children want to look. This is curiosity.

But usually this practice is carried out by children who have mental retardation.

Dear parents, take that one for cruelty is retardation . You must understand this .

If the child cannot do without it, and he has some passion for it, it’s time psychiatrist . But you need to start with a psychologist .

I think that a sane psychologist, encountering extreme cases of child cruelty, will immediately send him to a psychiatrist, because everything here is quite complicated. Secondly, this may be the cruelty of peers, and in order to be accepted into the group, the child is given a certain task: go, do this and that, and then you will be our friend, then we will take you into our company .

Sometimes a child can do such a terrible thing because he wants to be friends with iconic personalities in the classroom, or in the yard with children - this is the most significant for him. Well, for example, to shoot down a pigeon, or to do something with it... We have a lot of pigeons, and everyone treats them differently. There is more love for cats and dogs - they are domestic, they are more often found in apartments.

– Who is responsible for instilling in a child love for his little brothers ?

- Parents, of course.

- This is a good answer, I like it . Is to this into a duty , into something without which a person cannot live ?

– I think that the right attitude must be cultivated towards everything that surrounds a child. Firstly, to the animal world that surrounds us, to the plant world. Even to the entrance where you live. We had a renovation done, everything was painted, everything was changed - the elevator lasted a day, and I see that words have already been written in a child’s hand - by the level of the inscription you can roughly understand how old the child is. Therefore, it is important to cultivate an attitude towards what is outside the home.

And I often notice an interesting the behavior of children: if then attitude will be may .

Therefore, the code of education here is different for all families. But I think, my dear parents, that if a child today can treat pigeons in the square poorly, then tomorrow, when he grows up and you are weak, he will treat you badly.

That is, transference works, it does not go away, and this internal aggression that forms in the child does not disappear anywhere. If it is not worked out, you will then reap what you sow.

– If we talk about rural life , then they treat domestic animals more simply , because they are kept for breeding .

That is, then this animal is slaughtered for food, and somehow because how how they slaughter a calf a cow .

As if drowning newborn kittens in a bucket is also normal . And in cities we do n’t often encounter the death of animals, so us doesn’t

– My grandmother, by the way, drowned kittens. We had two cats, their birth rate was not regulated, but now, in order not to resort to extreme measures, you can sterilize the cat at the veterinary clinic, so as not to kill the kittens later.

Of course, this procedure is quite painful - drowning animals... Another thing is that you understand perfectly well that livestock is eaten and slaughtered at a meat processing plant, but the attitude towards it can be kind. My grandmother loved her pets very much.

Well, of course, she didn’t call the chickens by name, only the rooster, but she had many of the geese by name. When you give an animal a name, this is already a manifestation of your attitude - I’m talking about the countryside now.

But I return to the reasons why children show aggression and violence towards animals.

For example, a child . He is afraid , and therefore can show aggression in order to some of his offenders - thinking why not .

Naturally, if there was no dog in the house, and if a mastiff or bull terrier comes at you - in general, the bull terrier has a special face, rat-like, although some love their pets and for them there is no one more beautiful, but such a threatening face - and even adults are afraid .

Children need to be taught to react appropriately and not be afraid . Although dogs , animals can be different - some are aggressive ill-mannered .

And if the dog is not taken care of, if for example fight dog it is not raised, then we may face a tragic event .

We need to raise a child, we need to teach him not to be afraid. So that he is not afraid of the dark and not afraid of water, not afraid of riding in an elevator, not afraid of dogs, not afraid of bugs, mosquitoes and everything else.

We need to help the child who was born into our family to establish relationships with the world in which he lives. The world is quite diverse, and animals are also representatives of this world that we encounter.

- Well, we returned to what was said earlier: establishing contact with the world will occur based on the attitudes that . And what is the norm for parents most likely be . At least for some time while he forms his own opinion

-Yes, and it’s very difficult if an adult is quite aggressive towards dogs. For example, I see people who simply hate dog lovers, and they are ready to harass them. There are people who spread some kind of poison with needles, with a rat pestilence, where dog walkers walk. Because we don’t yet have a dog-walking culture.

It is clear that dogs shit wherever they want, and again these are blunders of upbringing. That is, a person must be an adult and understand that if his dog has done its business, then it must be removed.

Our Russian society is gradually developing in this matter, but something is not appearing as quickly as we would like.

I was shocked when I was in the States. In the park, I went to the water fountain to drink, and my gaze fell on the fact that there was a fountain for the dog. Here they made sure that the dog drank, because dogs are short, they need their own water fountain. I'm not even talking about the trash bag.

Therefore, now, when we say that we have a fairly aggressive society, dog hunters and everything else, we must understand that people are aggressive towards animals.

By the way, another reason why a child shows violence towards an animal is because he associates the animal with an adult who offends him .

That is, when a child tortures an animal, he retribution for his that happened in his life .

– This is a very complex connection . I understand if for example this is who you so that you can take away animal ...

– If, for example, it’s your cat, and your cat once ruined my favorite shoes, that’s one story. And the second story - you and I didn’t share something, we have a communal apartment, and if anything happens, you immediately go to court, call the police, then naturally I will kick your cat and cause him suffering, thereby - making your existence easier.

– Tatyana writes : “ What age of the child are we talking about ? Mine is one and a half years old , and he kicks a cat , he can kick and he crushes a cockchafer in his hand .” To the survey : at this age does the child understand what ?

– At this age, the child does not yet understand what he is doing, and therefore you straighten his arm, and, calling the child by name, you do not immediately have to nightmare him, scold him and everything else. He doesn't understand yet. You need to stop the child, you need to take his hand in yours - this is a very important process...

I would like to note one important thing: many children play computer toys, all kinds of adventure games, shooting games and everything else where there is violence. And sometimes the virtual world, which is full of violence, can also affect attitudes towards animals. By the way, this is one of the reasons for cruelty.

And sometimes parents think: we seem to be good, we are we treat dogs well, we love our there seem apparent reasons . But there is an invisible reason , and it is somewhere . This could be in the virtual world, the community is a part of .

So search here. Sometimes, however, there are very positive families, everything is fine, everything is fine, but suddenly the child began to show a simple interest in cruelty and began to bludgeon his dog...

– Everyone likes to blame video games , but are they bad ? There are other studies that say that who playing virtual are not capable of causing violence reality .

– Any statistics, any rule has errors. We are talking now about what if parents suddenly discovered that their child is violent towards animals - for example, towards neighbor's animals or towards their own animal, and this is unlikely, if he loved the animal, and suddenly began to show violence.

That is, there must be some reasons. And one of the reasons may be virtual. Yes, this is not the main reason, but it has its place.

– Irina writes : “My friend is a nice guy , sometimes he can dismember a fly , and sometimes he can suggest: let ’s ! This sometimes bothers me , will never sign up for this, and I want who .

– The fact is that a fly and a homeless person are still different creatures. I don’t have a particular love for flies, and I think that practically (maybe there are Buddhists among us), but practically all listeners, it seems to me, if a fly flew into the house, of course, would not be happy. If there is no way to catch it and release it, then we will probably take a fly swatter and swat it.

But if a person, your friend, experiences special pleasure, that is, he takes a fly, he tears off one of its wings, then tears off its leg, then guts it, then he takes a magnifying glass, then you understand: something is wrong with the boy. If he stretches out this procedure - savors it, prolongs the pleasure, the question arises: why is he doing this, what does he satisfy?

There should be such an alarm bell here, because - I don’t know if this is a joke or not a joke, I don’t know what’s in your young man’s head, but I can say the following. For example, if you start to get very nervous about this, then maybe he enjoys putting you in this state.

I am now pointing out a possible reason, but in principle this is right to stress you out. Therefore, to prevent this from developing into something more later, try to level it out, that is, reduce one-on-one time, if any. And best of all, choose another friend, if possible.

– Is there an opportunity to help ? I do n’t even know what word to use, because why help? The person doesn’t feel like he needs help .

So what to do ? Maybe if don’t do something now in such a situation , who maybe this is the next Bitsevsky maniac ? And here I am at the dawn , so to speak, of his and excuse me I couldn’t do anything didn’t send him to the mental hospital ?

“According to our legislation, you can’t just send someone to a mental hospital, you need a court order.” First you need to understand at your home-grown level: is a person sane or insane. That is, we ask him a question: why are you doing this? The second question: what does this give you, do you experience some kind of pleasure, and how long have you been doing this?

A person will most likely say that since childhood. What was the reason for this, why do you continue this? That’s when you start asking questions and getting answers, and if these answers stress you out, then you need to think through your feedback and talk to such people very correctly.

I wouldn't want you to throw them out of balance. And then you need to say: I want to help you, because what you are doing is not very cool. Again – how the person will react. If he reacts aggressively, then you will not be of any help.

You know approximately how our services can react to this. Therefore, it is better to go somewhere far away. My friends, we can only help those who want to be helped, and you must understand this.

– There is a story from Elena : “ We have an adopted daughter , and when she was in the fourth grade , caught a duck and roasted it alive over a fire . When we were figuring out why said that the duck . Of course , we turned to a psychologist .

don’t know how the story ended if you turned to a psychologist, and if is telling this now

– The fourth grade is a fairly big child. That is, this is almost the beginning of adolescence. And this aggression is very strong aggression. Because, as I understand it, she burned this poor duck alive - this is, of course, a very big call, and therefore you need to turn to specialists.

- about age now

– As a rule, preschoolers do not yet understand the pain of an animal. I think that the concept of the pain of another being comes gradually - that is, when we talk about pain, the child first understands only his own pain.

And again, everything depends on the child, on his development, on his brain activity. That is, he can understand his pain at about 3 years old, from that moment he begins to recognize it as his own. It is not always clear to him that the animal is suffering, the animal is experiencing pain. But around the age of 5–6, the child begins to understand - yes, the duck is in pain.

– Comment from Tatyana: “ had cats but the first cat so didn’t bother with her .

I also had a cat at an early age, but she was just angry towards everyone, and if scold she to rush bite no one would me I didn’t raise my voice again .

doesn’t seem to me that if a child interacts with a domestic animal from , then .

– We talked about the fact that children do not immediately understand what pain is outside of themselves. Over time, they understand their own pain. But feeling pain and being aware are completely different things.

A child feels pain when he he feels begins .

Then he begins to realize that pain because hit him , because to understand cause-and- effect relationship . Then he goes further , that is, he begins to realize the pain in the process of education .

Today there was a comment: the child is two years old, and he is carrying a cat. In fact, cats get it the most - because cats live at home and are softer in nature, they respond well to play.

Kittens remind children of natural toys, and since it is a living toy, it resists, then it arouses genuine interest. The toy is static, it doesn’t move, but this one moves, blinks, and it’s clear that the child is attracted to this.

– That is, somewhere from the age of 5–6 if the cat will be if then this is done consciously ?

– If the child continues to kick, we need to explain what pain is. We take the child’s hand, we can squeeze it: “It hurts, do you feel that I’m squeezing your hand?” - “I feel it” - “Do you understand that I can do more?”

Make it a little more painful until the pain begins. “Are you hurting now?” - “It hurts” - “You feel good” - “No” - “When you do what you just did to a dog or a cat, and made it stronger, she feels that she is in pain and it’s unpleasant for her.”

Such moments are explained to a preschooler because it is difficult for him to understand. Because he played with toys that he threw, did something with them, tore off the wheels. But this is a different toy, it is alive. And the attitude towards a living toy needs to be brought up correctly.

– Confirm or refute my thoughts that birth , or from a very young age, then he aggression pets .

I mean that there won’t be any particularly cruel moments if the animal has been around since childhood, or is that not true ?

– Yes, provided that if there is an animal from childhood, the child understands that this is his animal and the parents watch how he raises it. Any animal needs to be dealt with. The child was given an animal, he played with it for a month, maybe less, and then the animal came into the mother’s possession. And now both as if it is, and as if it is not.

When we say that it exists in it is the child is responsible walks it notices the animal - then it .

And if the animal is simply present in the apartment - well , as if it’s not mine , then the child can kick it .

And if, for example, mom did something to offend her, then it’s mom’s dog and mom’s dog will get it.

– Is it all through education?

- Certainly. Because if we say that a child asks us for a cat or asks us for a dog, then you must make every effort so that this dog does not go to you, like winning a lottery ticket. It seems to me that a fairly large percentage of animals that parents get for a child go to the parents. You can not do it this way.

– “ The child is 3 years old , very calm, but directed . We don’t practice violence in but what what .

– Well, look: why did aggression arise? It can’t come out of nowhere. That is, the child is 3 years old, and what happened? Well, for example, it could be something physical, for example, a child has an allergy and is stressed about it. That is, there must be a reason why the child is aggressive.

– But 3 years is a crisis ?

– At the age of 3, the crisis begins. He is very famous, hackneyed, already covered by everyone: “I myself!” The child shows initiative, and if you block this initiative and do not allow the child to express himself, he may also show aggression. That is, you need to understand the reason why.

Firstly, the reasons may be physical, that is, something is wrong with his body, for example, he began to sleep poorly. The second reason: maybe he stays with a nanny or stays with his grandmother, or with someone else, that is, something may be happening there. I told you the third reason, speaking about the crisis of 3 years.

That is, you need to understand what is happening to your child, you must explain this aggression. After you find the reason, you can talk about prevention and about getting him out of this aggression.

That is, regarding punishment - I hope you are not talking about physical punishment now, that is, you are not talking about spanking him and everything else. There are a lot of punishments, that is, when you deprive him of a walk, you deprive him of something he loves - ice cream, for example.

right away: please punish child for loneliness. You, for example say : “So, you’re punished you ’re sitting alone in the room! ” Try to avoid such punishments, because .

He begins to feel that you do not need him, he begins to feel and understand that you do not love him, and therefore you abandon him, fence him off in a separate room. Punished - okay, sit with me, I will now read a book, and you are next to me, you have a coloring book on, sit with me and color this coloring book, you need to make two drawings, come on.

- Why is this a punishment, that parents to punish a child - this is to feel bad?

– There is no need to do anything bad to him, you need to limit his choice, you need to limit the degree of his freedom.

The goal of raising a child is to lead him to a certain result with the least loss, so that .

I think that if you do something bad to him , if you beat him , he this on a physical level and , is afraid , he will not do this anymore - fear sets in, he is afraid, but why not . Especially at three years old .

In general, at three years old it is very difficult to understand some things. And when you limit him and say: “Okay, look, Maxim: you just hit your sister with a toy, Look: she’s bleeding, we put a band-aid on her, she’s in a lot of pain, Maxim.

That’s why today we don’t go to the cinema, we don’t watch the cartoon we planned, we stay at home.” Speak in a calm tone and leave him near you.

our punishment is connected with some kind of solitary confinement ; for some reason we want to inflict pain , to cause suffering to the child . For what? You see, punishments should educational should .

And so, when you want to punish a child, think: the child does not like to read - but the child may get tired of reading, the child may not remember, and this is a matter of developing the structures of his brain. This is not interesting to him yet, after all.

Maybe your literature selection is not very correct. And we suppress him and say: “come on, come on, come on!”, we suppress everything living in him, he pretends to read, he seems to be reading, we can, of course, check, but he gets nothing from this. And we kill the desire to study, and what results will we achieve? None at all.

That’s what I’m talking about, because when a child does not fulfill certain requirements that we want, the rules that we set, we must understand the reasons. And if this child is not yet an adult, who is not yet as cunning as adults, who does not deceive, then we can understand the reasons.

We can understand our own child . I am for this approach . Because to break, break , destroy, trample parents do very easily quickly, but then to stop something .

– We had a comment that adult children abuse animals in villages – don’t they understand that this is pain ? They understand . _ _ Why do they do this , why ?

– I think if teenagers do this, it means the teenager is in some kind of group. Because if a teenager does this, if he does it intentionally, then, apparently, something is dirty there.

That is, perhaps this is a criminal group, it is possible that it could be drugs, belonging to some deviant peer group, one where cruelty is practiced. I think that here you need to immediately turn to professionals.

If this happens in adolescence, you cannot hesitate. And it could also be some kind of disorder, a brain disorder.

- That is , you want to say that villages who mock cats, throw somewhere , tie cans their tails - these are people who wrong , and it’s time to a psychiatrist?

– I express my opinion, but I understand that it is not exclusively correct.

I repeat, the reasons may be different. For example, teenagers usually gather in groups and make friends with certain groups. This company usually has a leader.

If this leader is a dog hunter, then it’s just fun for them to tie tin cans to cats, chase dogs, kill animals and everything else. This may be one of the reasons.

But if a child, for no reason at all, suddenly began to dissect cats - a normal child, studied well, and suddenly caught several of them, cut them up and hung the intestines in the entrance - probably everyone already understands that this is a clinic and the help of a specialist is needed.

Sob. inf.

The conversation took place live on Teos radio