Petition for the establishment of a register of individuals legally convicted of animal cruelty

Addressee: Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic

We, the undersigned citizens of the Czech Republic, call upon lawmakers to establish a register of individuals who have been legally convicted of animal cruelty or severe neglect of animals.

The current legal framework in the Czech Republic does not allow breeders, animal shelters, or veterinarians to effectively verify whether a person interested in adopting or purchasing an animal has a past record of animal abuse. Bans on keeping animals are currently awarded individually, often as a discretionary penalty, and their enforcement in practice faces the absence of a centralized record.

Therefore, we demand:

• Establishment of a central register: The creation of a digital database of individuals legally convicted of animal abuse crimes according to the valid Penal Code of the Czech Republic.

• Transparency and accessibility: The register must be accessible to entities that come into contact with the adoption or sale of animals (shelters, associations, breeding stations), and potentially veterinarians, to prevent further suffering of animals.

• Implementation of an automatic ban on keeping animals: A change in legislation so that for individuals convicted of animal abuse, a ban on keeping and owning animals is imposed automatically and obligatorily, rather than solely based on a judge's discretion. This ban should be lifetime in cases of repeated or particularly cruel abuse.

Justification:

Many animals repeatedly return to the hands of people who have already abused them in the past, specifically due to the missing possibility of verifying their history. A system that allows offenders to easily acquire another animal directly fails in the protection of living creatures. The introduction of a register and mandatory bans on keeping animals would represent an essential tool for preventing recidivism, bring greater responsibility for actions, and help break the cycle of violence committed against defenseless creatures.

How will the register help fight against illegal puppy mills as well?

The introduction of a register is an effective weapon even in the fight against illegal puppy mills and traffickers from Bazoš and other portals. Inspectors of the State Veterinary Administration and the police will be able to immediately verify on-site whether the people behind suspicious breeding facilities already have a legally binding ban on keeping animals. Furthermore, advertising portals will gain a clear tool to automatically block the advertisements of such individuals. The register will significantly complicate life for dishonest breeders and multipliers.

GDPR and ethical framework:

We perceive the establishment of a register of individuals convicted of animal abuse as an essential tool for protecting living creatures, which is in direct compliance with the public interest. We are aware of the protection of personal data (GDPR), nevertheless, we advocate the opinion that the offender's right to the protection of identity yields to the right to the protection of the life and health of defenseless animals. The register would only contain data necessary for the identification of individuals who were imposed a ban on keeping and holding animals by a legally binding court judgment. We do not consider the publication of this information in a limited scope and access to it for defined subjects (veterinarians, breeding organizations, shelters) to be a disproportionate interference with privacy, but rather a preventive measure that demonstrably reduces the risk of recidivism and protects animals from repeated suffering in the hands of already convicted offenders.

To ensure signatures are valid, the first name, surname, and full permanent address of the signatory are required. This data serves solely for the purpose of the petition and its submission to the competent state administration authorities. After signing online, it is necessary to confirm the signature via email.