Is There Liability for Veterinarians Whose Negligent Treatment Led to an Animal's Death?
This question constantly arises among people involved in animal welfare and among pet owners who encounter veterinary negligence.
In Ukraine, there is no legal liability for veterinarians who kill an animal through their unprofessional actions. This is a major gap in legislation.
After analyzing court practice, it became clear that pet owners are simply defenseless against the actions of pseudo-doctors and their arbitrariness. Veterinarians know these gaps in the legal framework and understand their impunity.
The problem is that cases of animals being killed by unprofessional veterinarians are unfortunately not isolated. Pet owners who are grieving their loss and lack legal education find it virtually impossible to navigate legal procedures. Cases that reach court do not have positive outcomes for the pet owner.
Proving a veterinarian’s guilt is virtually impossible because there is nothing to charge them with (no legal liability exists). License revocation is the maximum penalty, and even that is practically unattainable.
According to Article 180 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, “Animals are a special object of civil rights, but as a general rule they are subject to the legal regime of things.” In other words, these creatures with souls and hearts are legally defined as objects.
Proving the causal relationship between a veterinarian’s negligent actions and an animal’s death is very difficult, especially when the veterinary clinic that caused the death hastily disposes of the body to prevent further autopsy and forensic veterinary examination.
Furthermore, Ukraine lacks officially approved protocols for diagnosing and treating animals.
AZOU emphasizes the need to create diagnostic and treatment protocols for animals and to establish liability for veterinary medicine practitioners for negligence in treating animals. The organization invites lawyers in the field of animal protection and veterinary medicine practitioners to discuss this issue.