The penalties for animal cruelty offenses will be harsher in the Transnistrian region. As of March 1, both the administrative punishments and the criminal ones will be tougher. In case of aggravating circumstances, the culprits will face even up to five years in jail, IPN reports.

The local press reported that the fine is now of up to 920 Transnistrian rubles for a contravention. From March 1 this will oscillate between 1,840 and 2,760 Transnistrian rubles.

For a criminal offense, the culprits will be fined 3,680 to 12,880 Transnistrian rubles and will be jailed for a period of up to three years. In aggravating circumstances, the jail term will be of at most five years. Currently, only those who act in a group face jail terms of maximum two years.

The list of aggravating circumstances was also extended. Thus, aggravating circumstances will also be considered: cruelty to animals by using sadistic actions, in the presence of minors, in public, online or against a number of animals concomitantly.

In Chisinau, volunteers who defend the rights of animals staged a number of demonstrations where they demanded to introduce criminal penalties for animal cruelty, but their demands were ignored. A bill to amend and supplement the Penal Code envisions fines of 25,000 and 37,500 lei, 100 to 180 hours of community service or up to two years in jail for animal cruelty cases.