You can contact the Legal Department regarding allegations of abuse, neglect, poisoning, abandonment or other suspicions of violation of the Animal Welfare Act (animal protection) – 1994, or for suspicions of violations of laws and regulations dealing with animals such as: Animal Welfare Laws and the regulations, the Rabies Ordinance and the regulations, the Law for the Regulation of Dog Supervision and the regulations, the Penal Code (relevant clauses), Wildlife Protection Act and the regulations as well as other laws.
In addition, it is possible to apply for suspected violations of municipal bylaws, procedures and guidelines of the veterinary services.
The Legal Department can be contacted in writing by fax: 03-6241779, by email: [email protected], through the association’s website: www.letlive.org.il or to our address: “Legal Department, “Let the Animals Live” P.O.B. 57238 Tel Aviv Zip Code 61573″.
In your application to the Legal Department please expand, as much as possible, regarding the matter in question, describe how the animal is held and/or the problems you encountered. If possible, please try to attach photos or any other documentation that reinforce your descriptions.
In severe cases, we will even ask you to go to the police station nearest to your area of residence and file a complaint regarding the matter.
In addition, in your application to us, mention the name and address of the suspect so that we can contact him, and your details for further inquiries and for updating you in handling the matter following which you contacted the Legal Department.
Questions and Answers
Although the rabies vaccine of my dog is valid, I was required to turn him in for rabies observation, because he bit as a result of provocation:
Rabies quarantine is required by the authority veterinarian according to the Rabies Ordinance in any case of a bite or scratch by a dog, even if it is vaccinated and licensed. This is not a punishment against the dog or its owner, but rather a quarantine that is required for public health purposes, so even if your dog bit or scratched because he was provoked, this will not prevent the quarantine. The duration of the quarantine is 11 days from the date of the bite event (according to the Ministry of Agriculture interpretation).
I would like to complain about my neighbors who I think keep a dog in improper conditions but I don’t want to get into a quarrel with them:
We do not disclose the details of the complainants in the Legal Department, unless we have received their prior approval. We ask for the details for further inquiries and updates, and if an appeal is necessary to other bodies and your disclosure as a result, we will update you on this.
I feed cats in my area of residence and the neighbors complain about it:
Feeding yard cats is a welcome act, but should be done in a way that avoids nuisance, as much as possible, from your neighbors. Therefore, we recommend feeding yard cats in a public area, with dry food only and to clean the feeding area afterwards. If necessary, you can contact the Legal Department and get a legal opinion regarding the condition and rights of the yard cats, which you can pass on to your neighbors or hang on the bulletin board in the building.
I want to forward a complaint to the association, but I have no idea what the dog’s owner’s name is:
Without the names of the animal’s owners, we will have difficulty to locate them and to contact them. Therefore, we would like you to conduct a number of inquiries prior to your application to the association. You can try to find out the names on the mailbox in their apartment building, ask the neighbors, check on 144, etc.
Besides contacting the Legal Department how can one act in case of suspected abuse?
First, you can try contacting the animal’s holder. They are often unaware of how to keep an animal and drawing their attention to the matter can help. In addition, you can contact the veterinary department in your locality (the phone and fax numbers can be found on the municipal website) and request that the matter be examined.
I think the veterinary department in my hometown does not treat the animals humanely and does not act legally, who can I contact?
The legal department also handles such cases. Please detail exactly what this is about and what attitude have you encountered and on whose side, and we will review your complaint.
I came across a pet store that keeps animals in bad conditions, what to do?
In such a case you can contact the Legal Department. We will refer the matter to the Commissioner of the Animal Welfare Law at the Ministry of Agriculture and to the Authority Veterinarian for reviewing the conditions of the possession of the animals in the store. Later on, try to visit the store again and to see if things have improved.
The building committee has commissioned a pest control company to trap the cats in the building, is this allowed?
Definitely not. The only body authorized by law to capture and kill street cats is the veterinary services, and only according to the most stringent procedures, which allow the killing only in case of health and/or sanitary hazard or extremely serious nuisance, and this is also as a last option and after it is found that there is no other option to deal with the problem, such as by spaying and neutering the cats in order to prevent their breeding.
The capture of cats and/or other harm to them, carried out by a private person or company, is a violation of the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.
Using the attached form, you can contact the Legal Department regarding allegations of abuse, neglect, poisoning, abandonment or other suspicions of violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
