The Aguascalientes City Council presented an initiative to the State Congress to increase penalties for animal abuse, including sentences of up to one year in prison and harsher administrative fines for those who attack, abandon, or endanger domestic animals.
This was announced by the City Council Secretary, who specified that this proposal seeks to complement the reforms already proposed by local legislators in recent sessions, with a more specific focus on companion animals, a category recognized by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. “There is clear jurisprudence. The representatives should study whether to say there are no domestic animals,” he stated, in response to criticism over the alleged lack of legal support.
The municipal initiative is based on the right to propose legislation on matters of direct jurisdiction and seeks to strengthen the current legal framework, which, until now, only contemplates basic administrative sanctions. “We have contemplated sanctions of up to 100 units of measurement as a preventive measure, but we seek to increase the precision and impact of these penalties,” he explained.
Currently, fines for animal abuse range from 360 pesos, a figure the City Council considers paltry compared to the seriousness of certain acts of cruelty. The proposal also aims to close the door to impunity, since although the prison sentence is one year, the system allows for early release. “It’s a serious legal issue because if there’s no clear criminal offense, you can’t even initiate an investigation,” he warned.
Source: oem
