ADDA - Asociación para la Defensa de los Derechos del Animal

A member of ADDA worked together with the author of the National Law for the protection of animals in force Mr. Antonio J. Benítez (now dead) - in 1989, with the purpose of improving it.

This project was the first one entered to the National Representatives Chamber and H. Dalmau, representative of Misiones, immediately adopted it (1990).

Many projects on the same issue were introduced during the sessions, which were very tough.

Deputy V. Sodero Nievas adopted the original project and made it compatible to other projects when the mandate of Mr. Dalmau expired. This version was never approved and Representative Néstor Alcalá made a new version taking undetachable bases from Dr. Antonio Benítez’s original project the following year.

Representative Alcalá also made his project compatible to the other projects that also considered important guidelines. However, the destination area of the final product was modified, turning it into a project to only domestic animals and tamed animals for specific purposes.

During a last enduring session, in the Representative Chamber -where hundred of projects were approved without analysis the mentioned project received half approval and was delivered to the Senate.

Undoubtedly, senators noticed the unsuitability of a retrocession on judicial matter and a notorious discrimination if they derogated a law that benefited every species and replaced it for a project that only benefited domestic animals.

We assume that due to lack of experience, the ones who started this strange protectionist concept misunderstood protection with conservation and believed that wild animals were going to be protected by the National Law for Wild Fauna, but this is not right. This law is related to species preservation, and an animal protection law punishes ill treatment and cruel behavior against animals, whether they are in danger or not.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) also supported the concern of Argentine entities like ADDA that did not want a restriction on the limits for the defense of their proteges and they declared their own concern addressing to the legislators in writing. The General Director of the RSPCA traveled to Argentina to have an interview with the Senate’s Commission of General Legislation to explain the negative consequences of this new law.

There are no obstacles for writing a special law for the protection and defense of domestic animals, but the most important and representative law for the protection of animals in force in Argentina should not be derogated with the mentioned limitations. The project expired when legislative period of 1997 ended.

The reformation to the current law of protection of animals 14,346/54

In December of 2005 ADDA returned to present the project of reformation of the Law l4.346 of Dr. Antonio J. Benítez (now dead),  and this time Mrs Gutiérrez our President invited to Deputy Pascual Capelleri to signed it, and  he do it  with Deputy Beccani  both of the Radical  Block. During 2007 in one of the Commission of the House of Representatives, the legislators asked for some modifications. In general those changes have more to do with the penalties.