Gärningsprofilen och offren bakom djurplågeriet

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to investigate how the crime of animal cruelty is constructed and what lies behind these crimes where animals have been suffering.The study's data consisted of 76 animal cruelty judgements, the verdict pronounced between January 2017 and December 2018. Animal cruelty occurred in all of Sweden's counties. Most of the crimes were committed by perpetrators in the age group 50-59 years and men committed more crimes than women. Most of the crimes (92%) also resulted in day fines, which were combined with a suspended sentence in 63% of the cases. In 90% of the cases the day fines were for an amount of SEK 200 or less, and 43% of the perpetrators were given a suspended sentence or day fines of a minimum amount (SEK 50).Neglect concerning the primary lack of care, was the most common crime category (77% of all cases). Dogs were the most frequently affected species within both cases of neglect (39%) as well as in cases of abuse (79%), which is in line with previous studies regarding animal cruelty crimes. Men accounted for 92% of the cases in the crime category of abuse and women accounted for 49% of the cases in the category of neglect. In 40% of the judgments where cats were involved, the animal keeper also kept several other types of animals or had a larger total number of animals (68 animals at most), which may indicate animal hoarding. In almost half of the investigated cases, animals had either died or had to be euthanized because of the crime. It also turned out that some of the perpetrators violated an existing animal ban and nearly 15% of the crimes resulted in new animal bans. Approximately 15% of the judgements indicate animal hoarding and the lack of cooperation between authorities. It also appears that animal bans are not always complied by those who are imposed with the ban and further measures are therefore required for the ban to be complied with. Animal cruelty needs to be studied further and whether the new law on grave animal cruelty turns out to have the intended effect in practice.