Master Thesis - ANIMAL HOARDING: THE LEGAL CONTROVERSY IN BRAZIL (original) (raw)

2018, Master in Animal Law and Society

Animal hoarding, the subject of this thesis, is a mental disorder, only recently diagnosed as psychopathology. Despite the extreme gravity and relevance, animal hoarding has not been considered as a psychopathology by most people. The research problem is: do the animal hoarders commit a crime and can they be punished before the Brazilian legal system? The delimitation of the theme is, therefore, the legal controversy about the animal hoarders, covering the measures in which they should be framed when of their accusation by maltreatments. The following are the objectives to be achieved: address the animal hoarding, their causes and consequences; identify the profile of animal hoarders; investigate criminal legislation and jurisprudence on animal hoarders around the world; and address the legal measures that should be taken in relation to animal hoarders in Brazil. According to Brazilian literature, crime is a typical, illicit and culpable act. In the case of hoarders, the fact is atypical (there is fault, but not malice), and there is no attributability (if it is verified that the perpetrator is not attributable because of a mental illness). This leads to the conclusion that the hoarders should be reffered to psychiatric treatment instead of being criminally prosecuted. The methodology used is a wide bibliographic review in works by renowned authors, as well as Brazilian and international legislative and jurisprudential research on judgments involving animal hoarders. As it is a controversial and current issue, it is suggested that future lines of research approach the animal hoarding as a psychopathology, in order to allow greater clarification on the subject and avoid the suffering of the main victims of this situation – animals.