The Environment Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, approved and dispatched to the Chamber the project that modifies the Civil Code to recognize animals as sentient beings.
The legislative proposal eliminates animals from the category of bodily things and furniture, with the aim of giving them protection, respect and well-being. In addition, it establishes the guidelines for permitted and prohibited activities in the face of this new regulation.
One of the indications that were approved in the session, chaired by Deputy Daniel Melo (PS), is the one that decrees that animals are sentient beings and are protected by special statutes. Likewise, the legal regime of goods and things will be applicable to them, to the extent that it is compatible with their nature.
To this is added that the owner, possessor and holder or owner of any other right over an animal must exercise their rights over it and their duties of care. Therefore, it must respect “their quality of being sentient, ensuring their well-being according to the characteristics of each species.”
