Comparison of Police Data on Animal Cruelty and the Perception of Animal Welfare NGOs in Hungary

Simple Summary: The public often expresses a high level of dissatisfaction with the work of the animal welfare authorities. On the one hand, we investigated the police's procedural practices in relation to animal cruelty and on the other hand, we asked animal protection non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their views on animal cruelty and the related police and judicial activities. We found that the police generally act quickly and with caution. However, the most sensitive section of the public is practically unaware of animal cruelty and forms its opinion on the basis of its concerns. Although most police officers consider the crime of animal cruelty to be somewhat more important than the average, the vast majority of animal welfare NGOs consider this crime to be extremely important. Three emotions play a prominent role for animal welfare NGOs in relation to animal cruelty: anger, disgust and sadness. For this very reason, it would be beneficial if the police were to provide more detailed information to the public, because the prejudices that give rise to dissatisfaction with them are largely unjustified. Animal cruelty has been a criminal offence in Hungary since 2004 and the legislator has tightened and differentiated the regulations in several waves since then. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that the public is often impatient and dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities in relation to animal cruelty. In our research, based on the data of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters, we examined the opinions of 99 out of a total of 155 police stations in Hungary whose staff currently working there had experience in dealing with animal cruelty. The investigators gave their opinion on a total of 1169 cases in which some kind of police action was taken, either following a report to the police or as a result of their own investigative actions. In another survey, we questioned those members of society who are most committed to animal protection using a self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire sent to the 116 Hungarian animal welfare non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the publicly available lists was also posted for a short period on the social networking site of NGO activists. Among those who responded, a total of 150 identified as active participants in the animal protection work of these NGOs. The picture of the police treatment of animal cruelty, as perceived by NGOs working in the field of animal protection, is significantly less favourable than suggested by the police data. According to the official data, 77.7% of reports initiated an investigation, while the vast majority of animal welfare activists (81.3%) suspects that only 25% of the reports result in action by the prosecuting authority.