Months ago, our organization announced that it is working continuously even after important meetings with the State Prosecutor and the General Department of the Basic Prosecution in Prishtina, that criminal offenses involving animals be properly handled by law enforcement agencies and that the mis-treatment of animals is considered with the seriousness it deserves. To achieve this effect, a training will be organized on May 19, 2022, for law enforcement institutions, to more effectively investigate cases of animal cruelty and neglect.

This seminar is the first of its kind and aims to introduce law enforcement institutions to the concept of animal cruelty and animal rights in general, in order to create a system of proportionate and sustainable punishment for endangering the health and well-being of animals, based on criminal provisions in force in the Republic of Kosovo.

The seminar will describe the current situation with the legal protection of animal rights and the main shortcomings and challenges that law enforcement institutions currently have in this regard. The seminar also aims to explain the importance of protecting animal rights by law enforcement, and the link between animal abuse and human abuse.

The training will focus on methods of identifying animal abuse, investigating criminal offenses to effectively prosecute perpetrators, as it is important that prosecution serves as a good deterrent to those who cause pain and suffering to animals and is also an important educational tool to prevent perpetrators from repeating their crimes in the future.

The seminar will be a one-day training that will be conducted by the TIR Foundation from Switzerland, with experts with extensive experience in this field. TIR was created to strengthen and support law enforcement institutions in their enforcement responsibilities. “TIR” supports and promotes the further development of law and ethics for the protection of animals and in human-animal relations both nationally and internationally.

The main law enforcement institutions in Kosovo are the Kosovo Police, Basic Prosecution Offices and Basic Courts. These institutions are divided into seven (7) regions of Kosovo and each institution and each region is expected to attend the seminar with two officials.

Many reports show that the criminal life of many people begins with animal cruelty, and if not prevented and punished for animal cruelty, crimes will continue to be committed.

We thank StrayCoCo, TIR, PETA Deutschland, Stumme Brueder Stiftung and LAV for supporting this seminar, as well as the Academy of Justice and the Basic Prosecution in Prishtina, for their willingness to cooperate in addressing this important topic.

Finally, we call on all law enforcement institutions to be part of the training by proposing staff to participate in the training.