BY ADVOCATE YVONNE GURIRA
What is Animal Cruelty? Animal cruelty is a wrongdoing or an offense against an animal. Cruelty is a general intent crime depending on the severity of the crime and other factors. Crimes of general intent crime require only a plan to commit the crime even though the offender may not know that the act is criminal. Active and passive cruelty are the most common types of animal cruelty.
Active animal cruelty involves intentionally causing harm to an animal for example confining an animal in cramped conditions where it cannot turn around, while passive animal cruelty involves acts of omission or neglect such as omitting to feed the animal and provide proper shelter. Passive abuse also includes taking part in activities involving the suffering of animals.
Example of active animal cruelty Confining chickens in battery cages amounts to animal cruelty. Battery cages are a housing system used for animal production, with the name coming up from the arrangement of rows and columns of identical cages connected in a unit as in an artillery battery.
Whatever the justification may be, the battery cages are cruel to chickens and directly compromise animal welfare. This limited space size of a battery cage limits the behavioral exercises of chickens such as perching, foraging, and dust bathing thereby causing boredom and frustration to the chickens.
Chickens are prone to numerous bone diseases. Chickens in battery cages lose feathers in their neck area due to the constant rubbing and contact with cage wire whilst accessing food and water. Chickens enjoy no fresh air as they live in filthy conditions, without chicken manure being removed from the fowl run. Battery cages negatively impact chicken welfare.
The Law The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is the primary legislation that regulates the treatment of domestic animals and wild animals in captivity in Zimbabwe. Offenses are listed under section 3 of this Act. Section 3(g) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act makes it an offense to unnecessarily tie up or confine any animal or permit such confinement.
A person found guilty of such can the liable to a level five fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months, or both. A level five fine is USD 200. How best can we avoid animal cruelty? To avoid animal abuse, the public must respect the five freedoms of animals.
The five freedoms include: 1. Freedom from hunger, malnutrition, and thirst 2. Freedom from fear and distress 3. Freedom from heat stress or physical discomfort 4. Freedom from pain injury and disease 5. Freedom to express normal patterns of behavior.
Like what Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian lawyer says, “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated”.
Let’s give laying hens enough space to enjoy their natural behavior. Cage free-egg production is the best way to reduce the suffering of these birds.
Advocate Yvonne Gurira is the founder and executive director for Animal Advocates International a non-governmental organization that seeks to reduce the suffering and enhance the interests of nonhuman animals through the law. She is an International Animal Law Advocate. She is a Zimbabwean registered lawyer. She is a former principal public prosecutor. She holds a Master of Laws in Animal Law from the Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, USA. Advocate Yvonne is passionate about animals and her vision is to contribute to the growth and development of domestic, farmed, and wild animal laws in Zimbabwe and abroad. To her animal welfare laws are outdated, and it is her desire to lobby for better and effective animal welfare laws. The criminal justice system has always been her area, and she aspires to see animal abusers punished. To Yvonne, animals are sentient beings who deserve justice too. She has always wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. She has worked with many animal organizations. Her desire is to improve the well-being of animals and make the world a better place for animals.
