LEGAL SATURATION & LAW 

The Organization for Animal Rights and the Environment EVA has as one of its basic goals the promotion of legal protection of animals in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As much as we try to help animals individually, one of the best ways to protect them is reflected in state legislation and its adequate and timely implementation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has relatively high-quality legal legislation concerning the protection and rights of animals, and the main legal act in this area in our country is the Law on the Protection and Welfare of Animals ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 25/2009). The analysis of this Law concludes that the issue of protection and welfare of animals in Bosnia is regulated very well, but unfortunately a large number of provisions of this law are rarely applied, and in some cases are not applied at all.

Thus, for example, an extremely important body - the Expert Council for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (Article 35), which is provided by this Act, has never been formed since 2009. A major problem in the application of the provisions of the Law on the Protection and Welfare of Animals is also the multi-layered structure of state power, divided and insufficiently specified competence, as well as the corruption that exists in the entire legal, administrative and political system. A big problem is also the insufficiently developed consciousness of individuals, but also the treatment of animals as objects or things within other legal acts on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The bodies responsible for implementing the provisions of the Law on Protection and Welfare of Animals are primarily the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Veterinary Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as cantonal and entity veterinary inspections.

In addition to the Law on Protection and Welfare of Animals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are other important bylaws that regulate the issue of animal rights and protection, and they are:

1. Ordinance on the manner of keeping records on experimental animals and types of experiments

2. Ordinance on the conditions to be met by the breeding of pets intended for sale

3. Ordinance on the establishment and conditions to be met by animal shelters

4. Ordinance on the establishment and conditions that must be met by hygienic services

5. Ordinance on keeping dangerous animals

6. Ordinance on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing

7. Ordinance on the protection of experimental animals and the conditions that must be met by legal entities engaged in performing experiments on animals

8. Ordinance on the protection of dogs kept as pets

9. Ordinance on the conditions for the establishment and operation of zoos

10. Ordinance on traditional sports competition of bulls

11. Ordinance on conditions that must be met by farms and conditions for protection of animals on farms

12. Ordinance on the protection of animals during transport and transport-related procedures

13. Ordinance on identification and keeping records of dogs, cats and domestic sacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina