HUNDREDS of people marched alongside their pets in Bratislava on February 25 to call attention to what they called unfavourable animal protection legislation in Slovakia, with the TASR newswire reporting the turnout at 1,500 people.
“A law on protection of animals is missing in Slovakia,” said Romana Klimeková from the Pes v Núdzi (Dog in Peril) civic association, one of the organising groups, as quoted by TASR. “It is important to have such a law and we want to draw the attention of politicians so that they deal with this bill, whose draft has already been prepared.”
Currently a working group at the Ministry of Agriculture is reviewing the draft, which was to have been submitted to parliament in November but was postponed due to the early general election.
The fate of the draft will be in hands of the government that emerges after the March 10 election.
The draft covers protection of domestic animals as well as breeding animals, establishes a minimum age to own an animal, and establishes restrictions on owning animals for those who have been found guilty of animal mistreatment in the past.
