Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro passed a law on Tuesday that criminalizes and punishes those who mistreat animals. The far-right leader was initially reluctant to the law, but then, thanks to pressure from his wife, he gave in to the petition and finally the dogs and cats, they already have a law to protect them. The ceremony was attended by the relevant officials by several animals that suffered different types of mistreatment and abuse. Like a pit bull whose hind legs were cut with a machete in July in a city in southeastern Brazil. Nestor, the dog of the Bolsonaro family, also attended, which the president went up to the table and had him sign the law.
The president said in this regard: “This fills a gap in animal abuse, an unspeakable thing that other animals think are rational do,” he said. The previous law provided sentences of between 3 months and 1 year in prison for animal abuse, but this new text raises the punishment to a maximum of five years, although only when the assaults are suffered by dogs or cats. In addition, it prohibits the possession of animals to convicted persons.
Bolsonaro initially implied that he would veto the law, considering that the sentences of up to five years in prison for anyone who mistreats these animals were somewhat exaggerated and said: “Whoever abandons a newborn has a sentence of six months to three years. So how the one who mistreats a dog or cat is going to spend up to five years in jail,” he said about twenty days ago. But the pressure his wife put on other people on social media to make the law effective made him reflect. The first lady went on to post on her social networks a photo of Bolsonaro with a dog, in which she wrote: “Making a love to my dad Jair Bolsonaro to sanction the law that will protect us from mistreatment.”
