The criminal legislation regarding zoophilia and the legal status of animals were examined in 15 European countries. With regard to zoophilia, answers to the following questions were sought: are sexual acts performed with animals and the possession and distribution of animal pornography criminally punishable? Several aspects of the legal status of animals were examined including: (1) is the protection of individual animals included in the constitution, (2) do animals have a special status beyond mere objects, (3) can we find specific legislative provisions that explicitly state that animals are not simply things, and (4) does the legal system also take the “dignity” of animals into consideration. The assessment of zoophilia and the legal status of animals resulted in two country rankings, which the authors compared with each other. The correlation was not significant (p = 0.3147). At the same time, countries with differentiated criminal legislation for zoophilia were also 3.62 times more likely to rank higher in terms of the legal status of animals. The Swiss regulations are exceptional in both respects, while at the other end of the list, Italy does not have specific legislative provisions for either aspect.

The aim of the study is to examine how animal protection, especially that of animal specimens, is included in the European constitutions. San Marino and the United Kingdom have no classical, written constitutions, hence, a total of 42 European constitutions were studied. Animals typically appear in the constitution as species that, as part of nature and the environment, must be conserved in order to preserve biodiversity. There are only a few constitutions in Europe that reflect a narrowly defined approach to animal protection. According to this, animals as individuals must be protected because of their intrinsic value. The research has shown that 14% (6 countries) of the European countries examined contain both species and specimen protection provisions in their constitutions. The vast majority, 69% (29 countries) included only animal species protection provisions in the constitution. 17% (7 countries) of the European constitutions do not contain a provision based on any of the criteria. Only Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland have provisions for individual protection of animals at constitutional level. In Switzerland, a unique legal institution, the “dignity of animals” was given constitutional protection.

Az elmúlt évtizedekben az állatkínzás szabályozását illetően fejlődésnek lehetünk tanúi. Jelen kutatás célja, hogy átfogó képet adjon 15 európai ország állatkínzást szankcionáló büntetőjogi szabályairól, majd összevesse ezeket az országok egyéb mutatókkal kifejezett helyzetével. A kutatás eredménye az Állatkínzás-ellenes Büntetőjogi Index ( Anti-Cruelty Criminal Index, ACCI) megalkotása, amely az állatkínzás büntetőjogi szabályozottságának mérésére alkalmas, és főként büntetőjogi szempontokra épül, de alkotmányjogi, az állatok jogi státuszát érintő és jogon túli kritériumokat is tartalmaz. A mutató alapján tizenöt ország (Magyarország,

Animal cruelty has been a criminal offence in Hungary since 2004 and the legislator has tightened and differentiated the regulations in several waves since then. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that the public is often impatient and dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities in relation to animal cruelty. In our research, based on the data of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters, we examined the opinions of 99 out of a total of 155 police stations in Hungary whose staff currently working there had experience in dealing with animal cruelty. The investigators gave their opinion on a total of 1169 cases in which some kind of police action was taken, either following a report to the police or as a result of their own investigative actions. In another survey, we questioned those members of society who are most committed to animal protection using a self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire sent to the 116 Hungarian animal welfare non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the publicly available lists was also posted for a short period on the social networking site of NGO activists. Among those who responded, a total of 150 identified as active participants in the animal protection work of these NGOs. The picture of the police treatment of animal cruelty, as perceived by NGOs working in the field of animal protection, is significantly less favourable than suggested by the police data. According to the official data, 77.7% of reports initiated an investigation, while the vast majority of animal welfare activists (81.3%) suspects that only 25% of the reports result in action by the prosecuting authority.

A szerzők célja a hazai állattartási szokások és az állattartók motivációinak feltérképezése volt. A vizsgálatban 843 magyar válaszadó vett részt 2021. június 20. és augusztus 30. között. A kutyatartók 97%-a családtagként tekint kutyájára, közel 25%-uk nem szeretné ivartalaníttatni állatát. Az ivartalanítás megtagadásának vezető oka kutyák esetében a későbbi tenyésztési, szaporítási lehetőség, a macskatartók körében pedig a beavatkozás anyagi vonzata volt, második legjellemzőbb válasznak mindkét csoportban az ivartalanítás feleslegesnek ítélése bizonyult. Az állattartók, a nők, a fiatalabb korosztály tagjai, valamint a magasabb fokú végzettséggel rendelkezők fontosabbnak vélik az állatok jóllétét, legyen szó társállatról vagy haszonállatról. A megkérdezettek 42,3%-a szerint egyáltalán nem, 47,3%-a szerint inkább nem ideálisak a haszonállatok számára a telepi körülmények.