Given the constant cases of abuse and cruelty against animals that have occurred in the State, without an adequate legal framework to punish those responsible, on Friday, January 28, 2022, it was published in the evening edition of the Official Newspaper “The State of Sinaloa”, Decree No. 581, of the H. Congress of the State, “That reforms, adds and repeals various provisions of the Law for the Protection of Animals, the Environmental Law for Sustainable Development and the Penal Code, all for the State of Sinaloa”.
The new animal protection regime in Sinaloa, as a product of intense legislative activity (which included a forum for analysis and observations by the then head of the State Executive Power), has great virtues, but also some limitations, among which we will address the following:
1. “Bullfighting” (bullfighting) shows were prohibited, as well as organizing, carrying out, inducing or provoking “dog fights”; but the “cockfights” and the “charrería” shows were maintained, as long as they are carried out in accordance with the regulations and authorizations issued by the corresponding authorities for this purpose.
In this regard, it is evident that the legislator fell short, because like the “bullfights”; cockfights are a show that encourages animals to cause physical damage to each other (which can end the life of some), only for the fun and profit of the people who engage in or participate in these activities.
The idea that animals are mere objects of appropriation or property must be abandoned, to begin to conceive of them as “sentient beings” deserving of “dignified treatment” by humans; or “sentient beings that experience different physical and emotional sensations”, a status that generates in people the legal obligation to “seek their protection, respect and well-being, in accordance with ethical principles”, as recognized by the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), in Amparo in Revision 163/2008. The property right is not absolute, so it may be subject to the limitations imposed by public order.
Also, the idea that “cockfights” are part of our culture must be eliminated. The fact that it exists does not mean that it is a custom protected by the Constitution. A culture must be protected by the Constitution when its values are compatible with human dignity, as well as respect for people and nature (including the environment and animals). Hence, the SCJN has determined that any practice that “supposes the mistreatment and unnecessary suffering of animals cannot be considered a cultural expression protected” by the Constitution. The spectacle of the palenque will not disappear because of the ban on cockfighting.
2. Article 364 of the Penal Code of the State of Sinaloa was reformed, establishing as a crime “those who intentionally commit acts of mistreatment or cruelty against any domestic animal that causes injuries”, to also include behaviors against “animals wild or feral” (feral animals are domestic animals that settle in the natural habitat of wildlife without human control), with a sentence of six months to two years in prison and one hundred to two hundred days fine doubled).
According to the new text of the Penal Code, “animal cruelty” will be understood as the will to cause pain or suffering and, in some circumstances, to obtain benefit or pleasure related to the achievement of the cruel act of violence against domestic, wild or feral animals and that endangers their lives, or the fact of causing their death by methods not provided for in current laws, including poisoning.
Likewise, “animal abuse” shall be understood as any fact, act or omission of the human being, which can cause pain, physical deterioration or suffering, which affects the well-being, endangers the life of the domestic, wild or feral animal or seriously affects its health or physical integrity, as well as exposure to conditions of overexploitation of their physical capacity for any purpose, including the sale and exploitation of live animals on public roads and in general, in establishments that do not have a specific license for the exploitation of the line of business commercial, acts of bestiality, bullfighting and abandonment on public roads or in places outside their natural habitat.
3. Carrying out “dog fights” was decreed as a crime. In accordance with article 364 Bis of the State Penal Code, 2 to 4 years in prison and a 500 to 660-day fine will be imposed “on anyone who organizes, exploits, finances, promotes or performs, on their own behalf or for someone else, any act whose object is dog fighting, whether in a public or private show.
The crimes provided for in articles 364 and 365, indicated, will be prosecuted by complaint, unless they are committed by the owner, custodian or possessor of the animal or that the animal lacks an owner, custodian or possessor, cases in which they will be prosecuted ex officio, in accordance with article 365 of the same Code.
4. Competence was established for the Secretary of Public Security so that it can integrate, equip and operate “animal surveillance brigades”, to respond to the needs of protection and rescue of animals at risk.
5. The “Animal Protection Associations” and their powers were regulated; as well as the places called: temporary shelters, refuges or animal sanctuaries.
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