ABSTRACT
Animal cruelty has been a criminal offence in Hungary since 2004 and the legislator has tightened and differentiated the regulations in several waves since then. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that the public is often impatient and dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities in relation to animal cruelty. In our research, based on the data of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters, we examined the opinions of 99 out of a total of 155 police stations in Hungary whose staff currently working there had experience in dealing with animal cruelty. The investigators gave their opinion on a total of 1169 cases in which some kind of police action was taken, either following a report to the police or as a result of their own investigative actions. In another survey, we questioned those members of society who are most committed to animal protection using a self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire sent to the 116 Hungarian animal welfare non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the publicly available lists was also posted for a short period on the social networking site of NGO activists. Among those who responded, a total of 150 identified as active participants in the animal protection work of these NGOs. The picture of the police treatment of animal cruelty, as perceived by NGOs working in the field of animal protection, is significantly less favourable than suggested by the police data. According to the official data, 77.7% of reports initiated an investigation, while the vast majority of animal welfare activists (81.3%) suspects that only 25% of the reports result in action by the prosecuting authority.
ABSTRACT
It is common practice in EU member states to permit the entry of dogs vaccinated against rabies at the age of at least 3 months. In the absence of easily applicable comparative data, subjective disputes emerge around age. The aim of our study was to observe the development of dog teeth. During birth, an abnormally lying Yorkshire Terrier fetus was stuck in the birth canal, which led to a caesarean section, hence, the exact date of birth was known. For the next 4 months, two puppies were examined weekly, and they showed the same development. The dogs were born without teeth. At the age of 4.5 weeks, the canines I appeared, together with the adjacent incisors (i3), and the second incisor (i2) also erupted at the age of 6 weeks. A week later, a first incisor (i1) also appeared. From the age of 2.5 months, the distance between the teeth was increasing, especially on the upper dental arch. At 3.5 months of age, only the bottom front incisors (i1) had not grown in a row, and the significant distance between the top incisors, comparable to the width of the tooth, was striking. Since only two dogs of one breed were involved in this case study, the observations cannot be generalized.
