In Uzbekistan, the number of supporters for a petition to toughen penalties for animal cruelty has reached nearly 4,000 people. Activists are insisting on the need to revise legislation due to the increasing cases of violence against stray cats and dogs in recent times.

The initiative's authors hope that public and media attention will help implement stricter accountability measures and prevent new instances of animal abuse. In their view, the growing number of supporters for the document confirms the seriousness of the issue for residents of the republic.

The petition proposes reclassifying such offenses from administrative to criminal. This move is prompted by recent cases of mass poisonings and killings of animals in various regions of the country. Currently, perpetrators face only 10 to 15 days of arrest, which, according to animal rights advocates, does not match the severity of the acts and fails to deter offenders.

The document also emphasizes that unpunished cruelty towards animals could lead to an increase in aggression in society as a whole. The authors reference studies linking a lack of empathy for defenseless beings to potential threats to human safety in the future.

Source: podrobno.uz