Lecturer: Viktoriya Strelnyk, Candidate of Laws, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Private Law and Social Security of the SNAU.
Target audience: students of I and II levels of higher education in the specialties: 081 Law, 293 International Law, 232 Social Security, III level of higher education in the specialty 081 “Law”, teaching staff of Sumy NAU, VSP “Sumy Professional College of SNAU”, VSP “Putyvl Professional College of SNAU”.
During the lecture, the focus was on modern challenges of legal regulation in the field of animal protection: from the treatment of stray animals and determining their legal status to practical mechanisms for ensuring humane treatment.
It was emphasized that in current legal norms, animals are often considered as objects of civil rights, however, the global and Ukrainian trend is to gradually recognize animals as sensitive creatures that require special guarantees. A separate block is devoted to responsibility for cruel treatment: criminal and administrative sanctions, typical offenses, the role of the police, local governments and judicial practice in fixing the facts, proving and ensuring the inevitability of punishment.
Prevention tools are considered: mandatory identification and registration of animals, sterilization/castration programs, creation and proper standards of maintenance of municipal shelters, adoption rules, educational campaigns on responsible ownership, community partnerships with volunteer organizations and the veterinary community.
In the international dimension, the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Research and Other Purposes are analyzed, with an emphasis on the 3R principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement), ethics committees, and minimization of suffering, and the implementation of European standards into national law is outlined, including approximation to EU requirements.
