The State Duma banned the taking of pets for debts

The State Duma adopted in the third, final reading a law prohibiting the seizure of pets for debts.

The document, sponsored by the heads of the committees on state construction and legislation and on ecology, Pavel Krasheninnikov and Vladimir Burmatov, provides for amendments to the Civil Procedure Code. The list of property prohibited for seizure will include dogs, cats and other pets that are not used in business activities.

As Burmatov explained, now this list includes farm animals (pedigree, dairy and working cattle, deer, rabbits, birds, bees, as well as the feed necessary for their maintenance), while domestic animals are considered property. But, the deputy recalled, the law adopted in 2018 determines that an animal is not a thing, but a living being that experiences emotions, including pain and suffering.

He noted that organizations involved in the withdrawal of pets for debts are often unable to create conditions for their maintenance, and they may die. And for this, an employee of such an organization faces up to five years in prison.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, for his part, called the seizure of pets unacceptable and expressed the hope that the new law would prevent the tragedies that sometimes play out if bailiffs take away an animal that has become a family member.