Policy Memo

TO: Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan

FROM: Aydan Abbasguliyeva, Student, ADA University
SUBJECT: Cruelty to Animals
DATE: 26.02.2018

Goal
Preventing Cruelty toward Animals

Purpose
Making amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on
Cruel Treatment of Animals, since today, the current Article 129 of the Code of Administrative
Offenses is not perceived as a real measure of responsibility for one’s actions by society, and the
actions performed by people are becoming more and more terrible.1

“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (M. Gandhi)

PUBLIC
 Logical framework

Objectively Means of Assumptions/risks

Verifiable Verification
Indicators
Goal Preventing cruelty Lack of news on (Decreased) People continue to
toward animals animal abuse number of abuse animals and
cases/news refrain from
responsibility for
their actions

Purpose Milli Majlis makes The number of (Decreased) Members of Milli

an Amendment to the cases decreases – number of Majlis refuse to go
Code of People are afraid cases/news as through the
Administrative of imprisonment well as the proposal/ignore
Offenses of the and stop animal number of court
Republic of abuse decisions
Azerbaijan, on Cruel (cognitive model
Treatment of – they value their
Animals, since at loss (4 years of
present the current imprisonment or a
Article 129 of the considerable
Code of amount of fine)
Administrative more than their
Offenses is not gain (satisfaction
perceived by society got by doing
as a real measure of cruelty to animal)
responsibility for
one’s actions, and the
actions performed by
people are becoming
more and more
terrible

Output Members of Milli Members of Milli Number of The proposal fails to

Majlis Majlis accept the votes “for” the pass the registration
acknowledge/become proposal making process
aware of the proposed
importance of amendment
implementing the
policy/making an
amendment

Input/ Evidence/real-life The proposal is Number of Failing to find

stories to show the evidence-based evidence/stories enough
importance of enough to show

PUBLIC
 Activity implementing the the importance of data/evidence to
and policy/making an the policy support the proposal
resources amendment

Recently, the number of cases of cruelty to animals (beating, murdering, bullying,

torturing, etc.) has increased. Such behavior of people is not permissible in a civilized society since
it results in the moral degradation of individuals, adults becoming even more violent, and children
with a high risk of having more serious psychological problems. At present, Article 129 of the
Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on Cruel Treatment of Animals,
is practically not functioning. The penalty as such is rarely used, and even if it is used it is applied
only in a mild form. Therefore, people who committed a crime to feel their impunity continue to
abuse animals and influence others in a negative way.
On April 19, 2013, on social media, there was a picture of a dog whose body was mutilated
as a result of a severe burn. From the caption under the picture, it became clear that it was a
“punishment” to the hungry dog who wore off near the "doner" stand (“doner” is a popular national
fast food in Azerbaijan) – the seller poured the dog with boiling oil. Another case happened on
May 7, 2014, in the Khachmaz district, where people found a puppy whose paw was cut off. The
situation gets worse when people start to take videos of their “heroic” actions and share them on
media. A group of people in the Imishli district decided to mock the cow by tying it with horns to
the excavator and then, raising and lowering the animal into the lake. When they captured their
actions on a camera, they enjoyed themselves and burst out laughing, until the cow, unable to
answer them, floundered helplessly in the water. The driver of the excavator continued his trick
for 10-15 minutes. Another video shared on media shows how several people digging a grave
buried a dog alive and burst out laughing.

In order to stop cruelty toward animals and not leave those people’s scoff at animals who
cannot fight back unpunished, I propose to introduce more stringent penalties for cruel acts against
animals, as well as for propaganda, in Article 129 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the
Republic of Azerbaijan, and in case if such actions done by children, introduce liability to parents
in the form of fine.

1. For killing an animal – 4 years of imprisonment

2. For the injury to animals – from 1 to 3 years of imprisonment, compensation of the
costs of treatment and rehabilitation, and a fine of 500 AZN
3. For propaganda – a fine of 500 AZN
4. If the cruelty is done by underage (who cannot be held criminally responsible)
a. For killing an animal – a fine for parents of 400 AZN
b. For mutilation – compensation for the costs of treatment and rehabilitation, and
a fine of 200 AZN

Expected results of the amendment will be that society will become more civilized, and
people – more humane. Also, under the influence of the law, the cases of cruel treatment of animals
will be significantly reduced. Those people who see the cruelty to animals as self-realization will
find another way to do it without harming the weak and defenseless.

PUBLIC
 The disadvantages of the policy are that making amendments to the Code of Administrative
Offenses is time and money-consuming, and usually for these reasons amendments fail. Another
disadvantage is that sentence to imprisonment may be costly for the government, since captivating
the person and keeping him/her in prison add additional costs when it was much easier with fines
only.

Measuring the success of this policy is not easy since there is no normal value to reach.
However, tracking the extensive and qualitative data on imprisonment decisions of courts and the
diminished number of posts on social media may be one of the success measurements.

The main model used in Policy Memo is the cognitive model which proposes that people
value loss more than gains.2 Considering it, we assume that the loss here is an imprisonment
sentence or fine, and the gain is the satisfaction/feeling of self-realization that those people feel by
doing cruelty to animals. Hence, thinking of years spent in prison as well as the condition of ex-
prisoners in the country people will limit themselves from such “satisfaction” and stop abusing
animals. Furthermore, the rational model with the cost-benefit analysis is made in the part on
disadvantages where the proposer/I realize that the imprisonment part of the policy may be rejected
since it creates additional costs to the government.

The strength of my policy is that there is a considerable amount of evidence to show the
importance and “mustness” of the policy (not all are mentioned in the policy). Also, my awareness
of the policy/law procedures helped me to use the process of lawmaking in a log frame as well as
to create the options for the punishment much easier. My weakness is the “disadvantage” part of
the policy. I understand very well that the cost of the policy may be the reason why people who
think only about efficiency – members of Milli Majlis – will reject it. Opportunity is that as a
former pet owner and follower of different pages/websites about animals I am very familiar with
the topic. Almost every week, I read similar news, cases where people abuse animals and stay
unpunished. Finally, the threat, as mentioned in the weaknesses part, is that by thinking rationally,
the decision-makers may reject the policy despite the fact that many countries – which are acting
according to a rational model – have accepted it.

PUBLIC
References

1. The Code of the Azerbaijan Republic On administrative violations. Untobaccocontrol.

(2000). Retrieved 2018, from https://untobaccocontrol.org/impldb/wp-
content/uploads/reports/azerbaijan_2012_annex1_code_on_administrative_offences_200
0.pdf
2. Eugenia, P., & Coral, M. (2017). The Cognitive Dimension of Public Policy: A Scenario
to Measure Expectations and Power Relationships among Political Actors. Panorama.
Retrieved 2018, from file:///C:/Users/abbasgulieva/Downloads/cdaza,+06-
Patricia+Eugenia+Martinez+English.pdf

PUBLIC