Legal liability for cruelty to animals

The article analyzes the concept of cruelty to animals and the problem of protection of animal rights. Official statistics of criminal and administrative cases and facts of cruelty to animals published by the media and animal welfare organizations shows that cruelty to animals is a relevant issue in Lithuania. The purpose of this article is to reveal the concept of cruelty to animals, to analyze the legislation providing for legal liability for cruelty to animals and to present the problems arising in practice in the field of application of legal liability. The problem in this area is that the concepts of animal cruelty and torture are very broad, and the laws of the Republic of Lithuania do not provide definitions of these concepts, but provide a list of actions that are considered cruelty to animals and torture. The article also discusses the list of activities that are not considered cruel treatment. The conclusion is made that there are conflicting views on animal cruelty in different societies and in the same society, so the concept of cruelty to animals is culturally determined and constantly changing