This Law regulates the necessary measures to ensure living conditions and well-being of animals with or without a keeper. For the purposes of this Law, by owner of animals is meant the owner, the person who owns with any valid title, as well as any natural or legal person in whose care the animal is kept. Keepers of animals shall ensure that they are provided with veterinary and animal health care assistance, shelter, feeding, care, reproduction premises, protection and welfare. Owners of animals shall have the obligation to prevent cruelty to animals and not to abandon them. Owners of animals must ensure them suitable shelter, sufficient feedstuffs and water, possibility of sufficient movement, care and attention, and assistance. Keepers of animals selecting an animal for reproduction have the obligation to respect the anatomical, physiological and behavioral characteristics of the species and breed so as not to compromise the performance, health and well-being of offspring. The slaughter and killing of animals shall be carried out in compliance with specific legal provisions in force. The Law strictly differentiates between ill-treatment and acts of cruelty to ensure appropriate judicial consequences. Ill-treatment includes the failure to provide basic physiological needs or subjecting animals to excessive effort, while cruelty involves intentional harm, such as torture, organizing animal fights, or performing non-curative surgical procedures like ear cropping and tail docking. Under the "Animal Police" provisions, authorized personnel have the power to issue emergency placement orders, allowing them to remove an animal from a dangerous environment and relocate it to a shelter without the prior consent of the owner if its life is in immediate jeopardy. Compliance is monitored through a system of administrative fines and criminal penalties designed to deter negligence and intentional abuse. Individuals who violate welfare standards face significant financial sanctions, while more severe acts, such as the killing of animals with intent or the practice of zoophilia, are treated as criminal offenses punishable by imprisonment. Furthermore, the Law mandates that local and county councils must provide permanent public services for animal sheltering and emergency veterinary care, ensuring that even animals without a keeper have access to a structured safety net.
Romania · 2004-05-26