Animals|Almost half of those accused of violent animal welfare crimes justified their act by the animal’s behavior, such as punishment for unwanted behavior.
Animal welfare crimes the accused give various explanations of their activities to the district courts, according to a recent study by the University of Helsinki. Common justifications in crimes against pets and farm animals are, for example, life situations.
According to the study, people accused of crimes against farm animals gave more frequent explanations of difficult conditions. They cited, for example, divorce, heavy workload, financial problems or difficult weather conditions.
“Nearly half of them considered that they had not caused harm to the animals with their actions,” says the doctoral researcher Elli Valtonen in the bulletin.
District courts considered crimes against farm animals to be more serious on average than crimes against pets.
According to the study, crimes against farm animals were usually longer lasting than those against pets and they affected a larger number of animals. Animals also died more often as a result of crimes.
Of the violent According to the study, those accused of animal welfare crimes admitted their actions more often and offered fewer explanations for their actions. Violent animal welfare crimes often targeted pets.
Almost half of those accused of these crimes justified their act with the animal’s behavior, such as training needs or punishment for unwanted behavior.
In one case followed by STT, a woman accused of an animal welfare crime considered lifting a dog by its fur in the air in a training situation, and according to her, it was not a case of abusing the dog.
“A woman doesn’t have the strength to hurt a dog,” said the woman during the district court hearings.
The district court considered that the woman’s act met the characteristics of a mild animal protection crime, but the right to prosecute had expired in the case and the woman’s charge was dismissed.
About research it appears that in more than a tenth of the animal welfare crimes against pets, a large number of animals were taken into care. When problems arose and charges were brought, the defendants appealed to difficult life situations.
For example, in the animal welfare criminal cases followed by STT, the bad treatment of a pet was justified by, among other things, lack of understanding, health problems and other pressing matters such as work. In one case, the accused woman told the court about her love of animals, but also about her mental health and relationship problems, which, according to her, had affected her coping with a considerable number of pets.
The study reviewed more than 1,400 district court verdicts from 2011 to 2021 for animal welfare crimes or violations in various parts of Finland. About one third of the crimes were against farm animals and the rest against pets.
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