Problems of bringing minors to criminal responsibility for cruelty to animals

Animal cruelty is a “litmus test” for determining the moral and moral state of society. It is the friendly treatment of animals and the understanding of their behavioral characteristics that indicates a high level of human empathy. A child usually reaches out to animals himself, he is interested in petting a cat or dog, and animals usually respond positively to this. However, mistakes in parenting often lead to the fact that the child experiences aggression towards the animal, may hit it, does not understand the specifics of the pose adopted by the animal (signaling fear or aggression). This leads to the fact that children become involved in episodes of animal cruelty, and teenagers can film such episodes on video and post them on the Internet. However, it is precisely the immaturity of the psyche of minors that makes it possible to effectively prevent abuse by explaining to them the basics of caring for animals. The study highlights the negative impact of the environment and the media on the formation of deviant behavior in adolescents. The danger of committing such crimes in the presence of young children is highlighted. It is emphasized that the systematic manifestation of cruelty to animals forms dangerous psychological patterns of behavior and creates favorable conditions for the escalation of violence in society. We believe that active promotion of responsible treatment of animals is required, and for this purpose it is necessary to prepare appropriate programs at the level of both individual subjects of the Russian Federation and Russia for the implementation of Federal Law No. 498-FZ of December 27, 2018 On Responsible Treatment of Animals and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation. In order to study the stated problem in detail, the special literature and regulatory legal acts regulating the treatment of animals were analyzed, and their shortcomings were identified based on the chosen research methodology. The analysis was carried out taking into account the dialectical and materialistic approach, as well as the comparative legal method of studying legal norms. Content analysis of information from the Internet was also used.