THE ISSUE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY IN SLOVENIA

Ljudem je dano ustvarjalno potovanje skozi čas, razmišljanje in odločanje o človeštvu in živalskih ter rastlinskih vrstah. S svojimi odločitvami temeljito posegamo in določamo pravice živali, ki jih imamo, pravno gledano, še vedno za predmet. Tak odnos do živali pa žal bistveno pripomore k povečani možnosti nehumanega ravnanja z živalmi, saj velikokrat dovoljuje pravno razlago v prid osebi, ki je obtožena mučenja živali. Prav tako v Sloveniji ne obstaja služba, ki bi delovala v okviru državne uprave in bi bila namenjena izključno izvajanju nadzora na podlagi zakonodaje o zaščiti živali, kar predstavlja težave pri ljudeh, ki ne vedo, na koga naj se obrnejo, če zaznajo tako kršitev. V diplomski nalogi smo preučili zakonodajo, ki pokriva področje mučenja živali v Sloveniji in statistiko prijav mučenja živali na podlagi podatkov, pridobljenih iz letnih poročil policije in statistike Živalske policije. Na podlagi opravljene analize ugotavljamo, da je v Sloveniji več služb, ki so odgovorne za nadzorstvo nad mučenjem živali, vendar nimajo ustreznih pooblastil za dejanske spremembe. Prav tako na podlagi pregleda statističnih podatkov ugotavljamo, da se število kršitev iz leta v leto neenakomerno dviga in spušča. Naš predlog na podlagi izsledkov je, da v Sloveniji potrebujemo službo, ki bo delovala znotraj državne uprave, ki bo imela pristojnosti in pooblastila na področju zaščite živali, prav tako pa pooblastilo za nadzorstvo nad že izdanimi odločbami. Predlagamo, da Živalska policija v Sloveniji deluje znotraj Ministrstva za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano, ker omenjeno ministrstvo skrbi za področje veterine in pod okriljem tega ministrstva deluje tudi Uprava Republika Slovenije za varno hrano, veterinarstvo in varstvo rastlin, s katero bi morala po našem mnenju Živalska policija tesno sodelovati. Prav tako menimo, da bi morali biti člani Živalske policije močno podkovani v znanju veterinarstva. Prepričani smo tudi, da bi se stanje na področju zaščite živali izboljšalo z informiranjem in osveščanjem družbe o problematiki mučenja živali.People are given a creative journey through time. They are thinking, deciding on humanity, animal and plant species. With our decisions we profoundly intervene and determine the rights of animals, which are, legally speaking, still considered as an object. This attitude to the animals towards animals unfortunately contribute significantly to the increased possibility of inhumane treatment of animals. Often legal interpretation goes in favor of the person who is accused of animal cruelty. In Slovenia we dont have an agency that would operate within the state administration and would be reserved exclusively for the implementation of control on the basis of animal welfare legislation, which presents a problem for people, who do not know whom to turn to in case they detect any infringement . In this thesis we studied the legislation, which covers an area of cruelty to animals in Slovenia and statistics reports of abused animals, based on statistics derived from the annual police reports and statistics from Animal police. Based on the analysis we found, that in Slovenia we have quite a few institutions responsible for supervising the torture of animals, but they do not have adequate powers to make a real change. After the review of statistical data we also found, that the number of violations from year to year irregularly changes. Our proposal on the basis of the findings is, that in Slovenia we need an istitution, that will operate within the state administration, which will have the responsibilities and powers on the field of animal protection, as well as the power to supervise decisions already issued. We suggest, that the animal police in Slovenia should operate within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, because this is ministry that is responsible for the field of veterinary and under the auspices of the this Ministry, also works Administration of Republic of Slovenia for food safety, veterinary and plant protection. In our opinion Animal police should work closely together with Administration of Republic of Slovenia. We also believe, that the members of the Animal police should be highly knowledgeable of veterinary medicine. We also believe, that we would improve the situation in the field of animal welfare by informing and raising the awareness of society on the issue of animal cruelty