A record 386 cases of animal cruelty were recorded by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) in the first five months of 2025. This is 3.7 times more than in the same period last year. In 80% of cases, suspects have already been charged, but only 4% of all proceedings have reached court.
A record 386 criminal proceedings under Article 299 of the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals) were opened in Ukraine in the first five months of 2025. The previous record — 220 cases per year — was set in 2020. Over the year, the number of cases of cruelty to animals increased almost fourfold: from 105 last year to 386 this year.
“The increase in the number of criminal proceedings for cruelty to animals is not about an increase in violence, but about a decrease in silence. Thanks to educational work, accessible legal tools, and support from civil society organizations, people are reporting violations more and acting in accordance with the law,” comments Anastasia Gevchuk, a legal analyst at UAnimals, an animal and environmental rescue organization.
There was a sharp spike in the spring of this year: more cases were opened in April than in the whole of last year. By comparison, at the beginning of 2025, an average of 21 cases were opened per month, as in previous years. At the same time, 213 new cases were opened in April alone — ten times more than usual. In May, the number of cases decreased by 110, but this is still five times higher than in previous years.
At the same time, cases of animal cruelty have been investigated more effectively. In previous years, suspects were charged in only 20% of cases — effectively, in one in five cases. This year, suspects have been charged in 80% of cases. However, due to the sharp increase in the number of cases, fewer cases under Article 299 have reached court: from 13-15% in previous years, this figure has fallen to 4%.
“This surge in new cases this year is, in particular, the result of the persistent work carried out in 2024: the launch of chatbots where people can report animal cruelty, the publication of templates that can be submitted if you encounter such a situation, training for investigators and prosecutors, etc., conducted by UAnimals. In addition, in February 2025, specialized training was held for law enforcement officers, which increased their awareness and, accordingly, their effectiveness in recording such cases,” notes Anastasia Gevchuk.
За даними пошуковика по судовому реєстру Бабуся цьогоріч суди вже винесли 20 вироків за жорстоке поводження з тваринами. Злочинці отримують реальні терміни ув’язнення за жорстокість до тварин. For example, in Lviv region, a man was sentenced to five years in prison for beating a dog to death with a bat. However, there are also cases in the register where offenders were punished with fines and suspended sentences.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/animals-cruelty-2025
