Thailand Government Passes First Animal Abuse Law

“doggie” by Dominik Gubi is licensed under CC BY-NC-NC 2.0

The Thai government passed an animal welfare bill on Wednesday, November 12, making it the country’s first law to prosecute anyone found guilty of animal cruelty, reports the Bangkok Post.

According to the Bangkok Post, the new legislation protects domestic pets, as well as animals kept for food and working animals from animal cruelty and places the responsibility for an animal’s welfare on its owners. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law could face up to two years in prison and/or a 40,000 baht fine, reports the Bangkok Post.

Several animal rights groups have criticized the legislation for being too broad.

In a public statement, John Dalley, co-founder and Vice President of the Soi Dog Foundation, said the bill is a “step in the right direction” but that there are “ serious concerns over the lack of clarity in the legislation.”

One such ambiguity, according to Dalley, is the clause that allows for the killing of animals for food but does not specify which animals are acceptable or inacceptable according to the law to be killed for food.

“It’s similar to introducing a law on driving too fast,” Dalley said. “Without specifying speed limits, the decision would be left to individual police officers, and the courts, who may have different ideas as to whether a motorist was speeding or not.”

Tirapongse Pangsrivongse, president of the Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the bill is “a victory for rights groups” but that it need to further outline and specify what constitutes cruelty.

“By only specifying piecemeal details of cruel acts, the law will exclude more cruel acts than it includes,” Pangsrivongse said. “Unfortunately the creativity of unscrupulous people knows no bounds.”

Keep reading the full story on the Bangkok Post:
First animal welfare law passed 
Landmark animal welfare law ‘falls short’ on preventing cruelty 

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