In Austria, dogs and cats can be legally shot – and almost everywhere. A new legal advice, commissioned by an owner of private dogs from Burgenland, asks this practice in question and evokes a reform of the State’s hunting laws.
According to the current legal situation, a hunter can shoot a dog if he is caught during the gate or is outside the call width of his owner – sometimes even preventively. Cats can be shot from a distance of 300 meters to the next inhabited building.
Scandal: Dogs caught and killed in falls!
The legal situation in Burgenland, Tyrol and Upper Austria is particularly frightening: dogs can be shot there without limitations – even if they are already caught in a fall. In Styria, depending on the season, the shooting is allowed, in Lower Austria, Vienna, Vorarlberg and Salzburg there are conflicting, hardly any practical rules.
A currently published legal opinion of UNIV. Prof. Dr. Erika Wagner of the Institute for Environmental Law at the Johannes Kepler University Linz sees the regulations outdated and urgently need for reform.
Personal background for the order
Beatrix Leberth, the initiator of the report, strives to change the law after traumatic experiences with killing her dog by a hunter. In addition to ethical arguments, their goal is to emphasize the legal aspects to make a legal change in the sense of animal welfare.
Remnant of the past
The legal permission to kill dogs goes back to a practice that is more than 300 years old. At that time it was about the prevention of wild, often leaving dogs to tear wild animals. Today, however, both the relationship between humans and animals and the understanding of animal welfare have changed fundamentally.
The current report emphasizes that the existing regulations are legally problematic in various ways:
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Property: The compensation -free murder of a dog is a massive intervention in the constitutionally protected ownership.
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Proportionality: The killing of dogs is not the mildest means of protecting wildlife. Alternative methods for scam or admission would be much more suitable.
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Equivalence: Hunting dogs are usually excluded from the Murder Authorizations, regardless of whether they actually tear wildly or not. This unequal treatment is doubtful by law.
The legal opinion of 50 pages is originally published in the magazine “Animal and Species Protection in Rights and Practice” (Tirup). It can be called for free here.
Criticism also from other experts
The internationally recognized biologist and behavioral researcher UNIV. Prof. Kurt Kotrschal does not consider it possible to always conclude from the behavior of a dog, whether he, whether he has a shooting as an unprecedented contempt for the feelings of others because dogs are very important social partners for their people.
Ask for reforms to protect pets
Organizations for animal welfare such as animal welfare Austria participate in the criticism and require a general ban on the shooting of pets. “According to estimates, up to 30,000 pets are shot by hunters every year. This practice is no longer Up -To -date and must be abolished, “says Dr. Michaela Lehner, senior lawyer at Tierschutz Austria.
A first step in the reform of reform could be a national hunting law that has standardized the regulations of the Studies Act and adapts to modern animal welfare standards. A referendum has already been started – and only recently stopped by the Federal Minister of the Interior. A complaint against the rejection notification was submitted to the federal administrative court.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
