NationStates Jolt Archive

Please support "Animal Protection Act" It has 65 approvals and needs yours!

This is not my proposal it's Hersfold. I am interested in it making quorum, though. Hersfold will be very grateful if you approve his proposal.

Here's a link for today (I gave it a litle buffer in case the mods deat one before it, so it's one proposal down):

Animal Protection Act (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/20111/page=UN_proposal/start=34)

If the link doesn't lead to the right place, just search for "animal" in the search bar on the UN proposal page.

Here's the text:


Animal Protection Act
A resolution to restrict civil freedoms in the interest of moral decency.


Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Hersfold

Description: THE NATIONSTATES UNITED NATIONS, IN ASSEMBLY:

REALIZING, with great shock, that many domestic animals worldwide are cruelly mistreated every day;

NOTICING, that in some cases, this abuse is not intentional, but simply neglect and failure to care for the animal in question.

HORRIFIED, that at times this abuse is intended, leaving the innocent animals wounded and disfigured;

HEREBY DEFINES the following terms:

1) Neglect – To fail to provide proper basic care for a domestic animal, such as food, water, shelter, and necessary veterinary care, when the accused is fully capable of doing so.

2) Intentional Abuse – To deliberately cause unnecessary harm to a domestic animal not declared for use as food for any cause other than proven self-defense.

3) Domestic Animal – Any animal kept in the possession of humans for companionship, lively-hood, monetary gain, or entertainment purposes.

AND HEREBY RESOLVES UPON THE FOLLOWING:

4) That all persons accused of the above crimes shall be given a fair trial in which they may present evidence in their defense, in accordance with UN Resolution #47, "Definition of Fair Trial".

5) That the crime of neglect of a domestic animal shall be considered a misdemeanor in all UN Member nations, and punishable with a minimum sentence equal to one-half of the basic sentence for child neglect, as defined by national law.

6) That the crime of intentional abuse of a domestic animal shall be considered a felony in all UN Member nations, and shall be punished with a minimum sentence equal to one-half of the basic sentence for child abuse, as defined by national law.

7) That all movie production studios shall be encouraged to use computer animated figures in place of animals when an animal is required to do any sort of stunt act.

8) Allows for the use of animals in medical testing, under strict control, and with proper care for the test subjects prior to, during, and after the test’s completion.

9) Condemns, yet does not prohibit, the use of animals in cosmetic testing.

10) That an Animal Protection Agency shall be henceforth established, to raise awareness of these crimes and to aid member nations in seeking out occurrences of these horrible deeds.

11) Highly recommends for all citizens of UN nations to spay/neuter their pets in order to prevent unwanted animals from being born and then uncared for.

12) That all zoos in member nations shall be required to provide an adequate habitat for the animals on display, which should mimic as close as possible their natural habitat. Should a zoo not meet these requirements, as deemed by the APA, the zoo will be subject to inspection, and animals whose habitats are inadequate may be relocated to another zoo.

RESOLVED, IN ASSEMBLY, BY THE NATIONSTATES UNITED NATIONS.

Approvals: 65 (...)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 81 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Sat Dec 25 2004


Please support it! Telegram your delegate, or, if you're a delegate, approve it, please.

Thank you for your time

There is just one problem with this proposal. Are you going to charge a child with neglect? Gold fish die all the time. As do a lot of other animals that children own.

There is just one problem with this proposal. Are you going to charge a child with neglect? Gold fish die all the time. As do a lot of other animals that children own.
Children should be taught how to look after animals and should be supervised and even small animals should be treated with respect.

Animals are not toys.

Giordano,
UN representative,
The Black New World

Approved.

Lady Desdemona of Merwell,
Senior UN representative,
The Black New World,
Delegate to The Order of The Valiant States

This proposal is ridiculous! It would effectively shut down all slaughterhouses, ripping the Republic of die Faust's economy (and thousands others) to shreds.

I hope this never passes to a resolution.

Thgin has examined this bill, and appreciates the improvements made to it since it's last incarnation. However, we find three problems with the bill.

In two bill items, minimum sentences are set for neglect and intentional abuse. Thgin does not support stating minimum sentences inside a bill, as it limits the flexibilty of the national courts to apply the law proportionatly.

In item 12 regarding zoos, Thgin applauds the inclusion of Zoo Regulation under the umbrella of the APA, but does not approve of the phrase requiring habitats to mimic the natural environment of the animals. This should be left to the APA to decide once the bill is enacted.

Unless the sentencing is removed from the bill and replaced with suggested sentences, Thgin will not be able to approve the bill. Further ammendment to item 12 would be preferred, but inaction on that count will not cause Thgin to disaprove the bill.

This proposal is ridiculous! It would effectively shut down all slaughterhouses, ripping the Republic of die Faust's economy (and thousands others) to shreds.

I hope this never passes to a resolution.

No, it doesn't. This concern was addressed in previous discussion, and animals kept for food purposes are not included in the 'domestic animals' definition.

Children should be taught how to look after animals and should be supervised and even small animals should be treated with respect.

Animals are not toys.

Giordano,
UN representative,
The Black New World

While it is true that children should be taught how to care for animals, it is unreasonable to charge minors with a felony due to the death of a goldfish. Until the APA is able to work on public knowledge regarding the proper care of animals, it is unreasonable to punish for less obvious cases of neglect.

Thgin suggests two solutions - 1) Adjust the APA jurisdiction to exclude small fish 2) Apply the law to the adult supervising the minor (or failing to) rather than the child.

3) Domestic Animal – Any animal kept in the possession of humans for companionship, lively-hood, monetary gain, or entertainment purposes.

So, running a business isn't for monetary gain?

So, running a business isn't for monetary gain?

Running of businesses involving animals is covered in this proposal. However, the major criminal act which is condemned and prohibitted herein is fairly open to the idea that slaughterhouses, ranches, and other, livestock-ish facilities are uninhibited in operation. Here:

2) Intentional Abuse – To deliberately cause unnecessary harm to a domestic animal not declared for use as food for any cause other than proven self-defense.

If an animal is used for food, the killing of it is not "intentional abuse". Therefore, it isn't prohibited.

Usually i think animal rights are a bunch of crap, but this proposal is actually pretty sensible..

Not a UN delegate, so can't approve it, but if it gets approved i'll definitely vote for it.

To address an issue... I would sa that YES, minors, even little kids, deserve to be punished for abuse of animals. If a 10-year old kid has a pet cat, and proceeds to kick it repeately, or use a hot stove to burn it.... or puts a goldfish in a microwave, then YES, the kid deserves to be punished. I disagree with the specific statement of a FELONY, or half of a child neglect, but there is obviously something sadistically wrong with children who do those sorts of things. Maybe it's not a felony crime, but they should receive some sort of psychological therapy, or be educated that animals are life too.

Also, it's an issue of INTENTIONAL ABUSE... the child is out there, intentionally causing harm to an animal. Not, "Oh whoops, i accidentally stepped on the dog while running around." It's "Yes, he went and kicked the dog and broke its ribs."

On the issue of neglect, a child forgetting to feed a pet. I think the REAL charge of neglect would be with the parent, for entrusting a child with that duty and NOT making sure that the pet was fed.

On the issue of neglect, a child forgetting to feed a pet. I think the REAL charge of neglect would be with the parent, for entrusting a child with that duty and NOT making sure that the pet was fed.

The wide variety of neglectful acts in this bill bothers me some, as well as the application.

In the case of a child committing an act, I believe most nations would prosecute the adult responsible for the child rather than the child. In such cases as sadistic animal abuse by a child there would most likely be both punishments for negligent supervision, and some sort of corrective treatement for the child.

My big concern is people going to jail over lesser abuses of exotic animals, and smaller domestic animals. I'm not saying that it's ok to microwave your hamster, but most people don't know the first thing about keeping an animal like an iguana as a pet properly. Ditto for most aquarium fish, and many parrots. While it is reasonable to support some penalties for neglect and abuse for ignorance, this ought not necessarily be treated at the same level as ironing your pet cat for kicks. So again, I'm strongly opposed to the mandatory sentences imposed herein.

Thgin