First: The Penal Code # 58/1937
Article 355 stipulates that:
Individuals guilty of the following are punished by penal servitude:
“First: Willfully killing without purport a riding animal, a carrying beast, a towing beast or any other type of livestock or extensively harming any of them.”
“Second: Poisoning any of the abovementioned animals or any kind of fish found in rivers, canals, swamps or ponds, would put the individual under police observation for a period of no less than one year and no more than two years.”
“Any individual attempting to commit any of the abovementioned crimes at night will be sentenced to penal servitude for a period of no more than 1 year, or will pay a fine that will not exceed 200 LE.”
Article 357 stipulates that:
“Any individual who willfully kills or poisons without purport a tame animal not mentioned in Article 355 or does it any major harm shall be punished by a jail sentence that does not exceed 6 months or by a fine that will not exceed 200 LE”
Second: Environmental Law # 4/1994
The Environmental Law did not pay much attention to animals except in Article 28 but even in this Article it was not adapted to the Penal Code. The Penal Code strongly
penalizes killing or harming animals with a somewhat stern penalty, while the Environmental Law focused on specific kinds of wild birds and animals threatened with extinction, and regulated the issue of hunting and the issuance of hunting licenses, as hunting is not totally incriminated by the Law in regions where it is permitted.
Article 28 of Environmental Law
“It is totally forbidden to hunt, kill or capture wild birds and animals defined in the Law Executive Regulations, it is also forbidden to own such birds and animals, to walk about with them, sell them or display them for sale dead or alive.”
“It is forbidden to damage the nests of the mentioned birds or to destroy their eggs.”
“The Law Executive Regulations define the regions where this Law is applied and list the conditions needed to secure a hunting license in those regions, as well as the administrative authorities responsible for the implementation of this Article.”
Article 84 of the same Law stipulates under Penalties:
“All who violate Article 28 of this Law will pay a fine of no less than 200 LE and no more than 5000 LE, and will have the impounded birds and animals confiscated from them as well as the tools and utensils used to commit the violations.”
Third : Agricultural Law #53 / 1966 stipulates:
“It is forbidden to shoot, kill or capture in any manner birds, useful to agriculture, and wild animals, it is also forbidden to own, transport, walk with, sell and display them dead or alive.”
“It is forbidden to destroy the nests of the abovementioned birds or to kill them.”
“The Minister of Agriculture will issue a decree defining the type of birds and wild animals as well as the regions to which the rules of this Article apply, the decree will
also define the conditions needed to obtain a license to exceptionally hunt those birds and wild animals for scientific reasons or for tourism.”
The Agricultural Law did not stipulate any protection for animals except in the above mentioned Article, the Article only forbids hunting birds and wild animals, other Articles in the Law regulate the slaughter of male livestock to preserve animal assets, which is in no way related to compassion and mercy, therefore the Law does not contain any Articles for the protection of animals per say. The main purpose of this Law was to ban hunting certain species of animals and birds in specific regions to protect them from extinction, and the legislator was not right when he gave the Minister of Agriculture the authority to grant exceptional hunting licenses for scientific purposes and for tourism, which opens the door wide for exceptions that soon become the rule, while they should remain as exceptions.
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