Humane Legal Protection of Homeless Animals

Abstract

Animal rights at the international level have been defined in the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, which has become a guiding principle for many EU countries in shaping animal protection legislation. The subject of this article is the humane protection of homeless animals, which is the responsibility of the municipality in terms of maintaining cleanliness and order. The study assumes that by carrying out tasks regarding the protection of animals from homelessness, municipalities contribute to the effective protection of animals by providing them with appropriate care. The analysis found that the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare have been fully incorporated into Polish legislation. However, the effectiveness of the provisions on the protection of homeless animals executed by municipalities is not entirely satisfactory as evidenced by the post-inspection data and selected jurisprudence. In order to improve this state of affairs, the following de lege ferenda postulates were formulated, which in part are also guidelines of the Supreme Audit Office extending the catalog of activities in municipal homeless animal protection programs, introducing the requirement to inspect animal shelters by municipalities, changing the location requirements of animal shelters and also clarifying sanitary requirements concerning the conditions in which animals live in to improve their welfare. The above changes in legislation may contribute to more efficient humane protection of homeless animals in Poland and may serve as an example for other EU countries.