Global Advancements in Animal Rights: Efforts to Strengthen Animal-People Cruelty Laws, Part 2 of a Multi-part Series.

As two-thirds of the world’s countries integrate animal protection into their justice systems, cruelty to animal-people is deemed an intolerable offense in many criminal codes. “Now, this triggered the #NoMore50 campaign. The campaign aims to increase the penalties for animal cruelty in India.” “A bird can’t go to court. A horse doesn’t vote. A dog cannot share its plight with journalists. Animals don’t have a voice, but you do. And it’s time for you to speak up today.” The Honorable Mary Grace Poe, Senator of the Philippines, expressed that she was “heartbroken and enraged” by the mauling of Killua in a speech on March 19, 2024. “Occupying the top of the food chain does not give us the licence to handle animals with barbarity.”

A historic victory of the justice system over animal-people cruelty took place in a large Envigo facility that bred beagle-citizens for testing in Cumberland County, Virginia, USA. The “beagle bills” were signed into law in April 2022 and apply to violations occurring on or after July 1, 2023. These bills saved the lives of 4000 beagle-persons. Celebrating the new law, the Honorable Bill Stanley, a member of the Virginia Senate, said: “Virginia is now recognizing that our four-legged friends are man’s best friends. Together, we are willing to acknowledge not just their existence but their importance in our lives. My father used to say to me that the best thing about a dog, ‘Hallo there!’ was that they taught human beings and God put them on this good Earth because they taught us perfect love, perfect loyalty, and perfect forgiveness. And it is our obligation, it is our duty to make sure that we in the Commonwealth of Virginia recognize their importance, recognize the importance of their lives and protect them for what they do for us.”