What happened?
On January 8, a shocking video circulated on social media showing a man brutally beating a dog to death with a tree branch. The incident has caused a huge public outcry, with many animal rights activists taking to the streets in protest. This is the second case of disturbing violence against an animal in recent months, prompting us to examine the legislation and look into the Government’s regulation of animal rights.
Disturbing cases of animal abuse
The disturbing video shows see a middle-aged man, Arip Goishov, beating a helpless dog with a branch on its head and body. The reason for Goishov’s anger was that the stray dog had entered his yard and eaten 10 of his chickens and bitten his cow and a sheep.
The incident happened in the village of Kachagani, Marneuli municipality. According to Goishov’s mother, the video is several months old and was shot by an unknown person and posted on the Internet for revenge. The video was later identified as being shot in December. In a separate incident, Goishov was reportedly accused of demanding sexual favors from an underage girl in exchange for money. According to his mother, following these accusations he was allegedly lured to a secluded area and beaten by his neighbors a few days ago.
Goishov was arrested shortly after the video of him beating the dog was released. On January 10, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia charged him with violation of the third part of Article 259 (Torture or ill-treatment of animals resulting in death) of the Criminal Code of Georgia and the Court has sentenced him to two months of pretrial detention. The day before, animal rights activists protested in Marneuli and Tbilisi, calling on the court to sentence the man to the maximum penalty of 1 to 4 years in prison.
This is the second such disturbing case of animal abuse in three weeks. On December 24, another video was posted on Facebook showing a dog with a head injury caused by a sharp object in Baghdati. The dog was in an alarming condition and required immediate surgery. Veterinarians from the Veterinary Medical Center Vet-Med operated on the dog for one hour and 25 minutes, but despite the operation, the dog didn’t survive. The investigation has begun, but the person responsible for the animal’s death has not yet been found.
According to the Georgian National Statistical Office, in 2023 (not including December) the prosecutor’s office started prosecution in nine cases of animal abuse. Some of these cases include the shooting of stray dogs in Tbilisi and Tsalka, and the throwing of a family dog from the 8th floor window.
Animal Rights Legislation in Georgia
Looking at the recent history of animal abuse in Georgia, we can see that dogs, especially stray dogs, are the most common victims of abuse. In general Georgia has a problem with a huge number of stray dogs on the streets. The number of stray dogs was last counted in 2015, and in Tbilisi alone, there were about 243 dogs per 1 square kilometer in the city, and this number has probably increased, according to the estimates of experts and animal rights groups. As the number of dogs increases, so do cases of brutality, which the Georgian legislature has failed to adequately regulate.
Improper treatment of animals is regulated under the Criminal Code (Article 259) and the Code of Administrative Offenses (Articles 103, 104 and 172). Georgia is not a signatory of international conventions and declarations oriented on the wellbeing of animals, such as the UNESCO’s Universal Declaration of Animal Rights of 1978 and Council of Europe’s European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals of 1987.
In 2019, the Georgian Parliament presented a legislative initiative on the protection of the welfare of pets, which has not yet been adopted. The draft law regulates the uncontrolled reproduction of animals, cruel treatment of animals, management of the population of stray animals, and so on. Supporters of the bill believe it has the potential to improve the living conditions and welfare of animals and should be adopted as soon as possible.
The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), a local watchdog, periodically reviews the legal guarantees of animal welfare and their implementation in practice in Georgia. According to its latest findings, based on the December 2022 report, Georgian legislation currently only partially defines the legal basis for the care and welfare of companion animals.
IDFI found that the number of cases of animal cruelty is increasing, while the reporting of such crimes and proper investigation by the state authorities is decreasing. The number of animal cruelty cases heard by the courts is low. In 2019-2021, only 21 cases were heard by the courts, of which 19 people were found guilty. 17 out of the 19 individuals were fined and only 2 were imprisoned.
Steps to be Taken
The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) proposes three main steps to better protect animal rights in Georgia:
- Develop a better legal framework and ensure its effective enforcement. According to IDFI it is necessary to initiate the draft law in time, to conduct the process in an inclusive manner, to take into account the opinions of specialists working on this issue and to adopt a law that will ensure the welfare of companion animals and their safe coexistence with society throughout the country.
- Invest in municipal finances, especially in places like Tbilisi. Building shelters and allocating resources across Georgia is seen as key to addressing this issue. Developing a reliable system for registering and managing homeless dogs and launching a widespread sterilization program are also seen as essential to curbing the population of stray animals, not only in the capital but also in other areas.
- Raise awareness about the increased number of animal abuse cases in Georgia. IDFI suggests reflecting animal welfare issues in educational programs and increasing the competence and capabilities of representatives of municipalities and all competent bodies around the issue.
Small Steps Forward
Realistically, social campaigns have the greatest potential to raise awareness. The recent example of the successful campaign against the use of fireworks during new year celebrations, shows that social changes in Georgia can be effectively achieved through campaigns.
The excessive use of fireworks in the first hours of the New Year has been a tradition in Georgia for many years. All the fireworks going off at the same time over a long period of time causes extreme anxiety in the animals, with some dying from fright or heart attacks. The campaign actively shared images of frightened animals and encouraged people to think about the impact of fireworks on animals. People really took the issue to heart, and 2024 was by far the quietest New Year’s celebration in a long time, and for the first time, no animals died in the zoo.
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