Driving disqualification for abandoning animals
Suspension from six months to one year. On the road the penalty is to be raised by a third
2' min read
2' min read
Among the novelties to be introduced with the amendment to the Highway Code, a bill already passed by the Chamber of Deputies and now being examined by the Senate, is a stricter regulation against the abandonment of animals on the road.
This is a sad phenomenon, which generally escalates around the summer holiday period, and which also has a criminal relevance: Article 727 of the Criminal Code punishes the abandonment of animals with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of between EUR 1,000 and EUR 10,000.
If the reform of the Highway Code passes, as seems highly probable, the examination of the Senate, the sanctioning treatment of the contravention in question will change to the detriment of the offender, due to the inclusion of a specific aggravating circumstance. Obviously, this is not a tightening of the punishment in a general sense, due to a reconsideration of the disvalue of the conduct, but rather the insertion of specific aggravating factors, aimed at better protecting road traffic.
Therefore, if the abandonment takes place on the road or its appurtenances, the penalty will be increased by one third; furthermore, if a vehicle was used to commit the offence, the suspension of the driving licence from six months to one year will follow 'in any case' after the contravention has been established. But the most important change, and also the most impactful, is the inclusion of the offence of abandonment in the legislation on road homicide.
In fact, if the abandonment of animals were to result in a road accident resulting in death or serious injury, i.e. with a prognosis of more than forty days, the application of Articles 589-bis (road homicide) and 590-bis (serious or very serious road or nautical personal injury) of the Criminal Code would be triggered. The proof that the accident was caused by an abandoned animal does not arouse particular complexity; more problematic is the aspect of the place of the abandonment which, to allow the application of the legislation on road homicide, must in any case be a road or one of its appurtenances.
