Belo Horizonte prohibits the training of animals with the use of violence

Law 14,441/2022, which prohibits the use of domestic animal training techniques that involve physical or psychological violence and prohibits the use of training techniques that cause the animal pain, anxiety, fear or exhaustion, entered into force in the municipality of Belo Horizon a week ago.

Means that violate the physical or mental integrity of the animal and that corrupt its dignity and essential conditions for its well-being, such as water, food and adequate space to move, may no longer be used.

The law also prohibits:

• tie string to groin, ears, or paws to apply pressure; deliver slaps or kicks;
• wearing a collar that emits electrical current, known as an e-collar or shock collar;
• applying pressure to the neck by means of a choke chain, collar of claws or unified guide that results in the loss or decrease of breathing capacity, prevents contact of the forelimbs with the ground or immobilizes the animal.

On psychological violence, legislation includes:

• provoke a behavior with the intention of, consecutively, applying corrections that violate its physical integrity;
• trapping the animal in a restricted and inappropriate space so that it learns to be alone, leaving it in a state of despair;
• use snaps, crackers or similar to frighten him;
• deprive him of food or water for more than 24 hours in order to increase motivation to train;
• submitting the animal, through presentation or confinement, to aggressive stimuli that cause fear or pain without giving it the possibility to dodge;
• use stimuli that cause fear or anxiety to achieve a desired behavior quickly, disregarding the well-being of the animal;
• prevent the expression of healthy natural behavior, essential to the well-being of the species.

Violations will be punished with a warning, a fine and banning of the place of establishment.