The Order to Prohibit Animal Ownership and Temporary Measure to Ban Animal Keeping for Animal Abuser

The Animal Protection Act was amended in 2022. However, the order prohibiting animal abusers from owning animals in the future has not been legislated. And there is no specific way to separate animal abusers from abused animals under the current law. Even that, if the owner requests a recovery after a separation period of at least five days has elapsed, the animal must be returned. In September 2024, partial amendments to the current Animal Protection Act was proposed to correct the these flaws. The proposed amendments stipulate an order for prohibiting animal ownership and a temporary ban on animal keeping. However, it is still difficult for animals to escape from ownership as objects under Civil Law. In addition, there are even counterarguments that the order to prohibit animal ownership restricts fundamental rights under the Constitution. Therefore, it would not be easy to legislate an order to prohibit animal ownership and temporary ban to animal keeping, and even if it is legislated, enforcement difficulties and fierce disputes in the courts are expected. In the UK, the Protection of Animals Act 1911 has developed into the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which provides for deprivation and disqualification of animal abuser. Looking at the situation in the UK would help a lot to suggest the direction in which Korea's Animal Protection Act should go in times to come. In addition, the precedents that filed a Court of Appeal against the court's disqualification orders have been examined together. The first implication of the UK Animal Welfare Act is that when animal abuse is found, the abuser is basically deprived of ownership of the animal. Therefore, it does not happen in the UK for an abused animal to live with an abuser again. Second, it is a basic sentencing principle to impose an ancillary order that deprivation and disqualification when convicted of animal abusers. Therefore, it is taken for granted that a person convicted of animal abuse cannot own and keep animals for a certain period of time as determined by the judge. Finally, in the UK, if it is necessary to confiscate or search the residence of an animal abuser, an animal inspector with expertise in animal protection will accompany the police officer. In Korea, if a police officer who has the authority to investigate an animal abuse case and an animal protection expert who has expertise in animal abuse cases join together, it would help to quickly rescue and protect animals at the scene and secure evidence in future criminal trials.