GB No. 11, spring 1993
"Animal is a living
creature, capable of experiencing both physical and mental suffering and as such it has
the right to expect respect, care and protection from man" - these are the opening
words of the act concerning protection of animals, the draft of which has been put forward
by a group of 110 members of Sejm (Congress) on the initiative of Teresa Liszcz. The act
specifies the way of treating domestic, farm and breed animals as well as those living in
zoological gardens and wild ones.
"Cruelty towards animals, which is
first of all a result of thoughtlessness and insensitivity as well as (more and more
frequently) conscious, sometimes sophisticated action, is a common practice in Poland.
Along with dogs kept on chains, dogs dying of lack of food and water, dogs in cities
abandoned and thrown out of cars, cats injured and killed in cruel ways, we can see loads
of animals raised for meat, imprisoned and tormented to death, cruel and often unnecessary
vivisections of animals, sheep burnt alive, a bison tormented to death for the needs of
film industry, and a living horse thrown into a precipice when the film 'Popio3y' ('The
Ashes') was being shot. The reason for this cruelty is the badly conceived notion that man
can 'make the earth subject to himself' and approved for centuries by civil law treatment
of animal as a thing," we read in the justification of the draft of the act.
The act concerning protection of animals
obliges regional governments to take care of stray animals. An ill-treated animal could be
taken away from its owner. Abandoning domestic animals as well as dog-catching would be
forbidden. Cats wandering in human settlements would be protected as they contribute
toward maintaining biological balance and fight rodents. It would be forbidden to overwork
labour animals, to organize bull-, cock- or dog-fights. Only animals raised in captivity
could be trained and only animals raised in captivity could be kept in zoological gardens.
It would be forbidden to raise calves for veal, geese or ducks for livers. The act
specifies conditions of transportation of animals and experimenting on them as well as the
ways of putting them to death. The act provides for punishment of up to two years'
imprisonment for tormenting animals.
The act is meant to substitute the one
which is valid in Poland currently, which deals with the problem of animals only
superficially, namely, the ordinance of the president of the Polish Republic of March 22,
1928. It is based on the act valid in Sweden and is concurrent with the World Declaration
of the Rights of Animal passed by UNESCO on October 15, 1978.
(fus) (see also page 4 for current information about Sejm)
translation from "Echo" 27 April 1993
GB No. 11, spring 1993 | Contents