Styria promises sharper measures against begging with animals

Styria promises sharper measures against begging with animals

Styria has tightened its security law to regulate begging in combination with animals. From now on, people who beg with a dog have to expect fines. This measure was considered necessary by Governor Mario Kunasek to prevent abuse and animal suffering. Many animal welfare organizations welcome the ban and argue that there have been already documented cases of cruelty to animals in this context. The new regulations enable the municipalities to set up special prohibition zones in public places, which are to be installed particularly in heavily frequented areas such as Graz and Leoben from May. Kosmo reports that the existing provisions only begging and the incitement of minors prohibited.

The current legislative reform comes in the middle of a political landscape that has been dealing with begging for years. In particular, the FPÖ and the ÖVP have organized themselves for a stricter ban. A general ban on begging, which was introduced in 2011, was previously successfully challenged in front of the Constitutional Court. The Kleine Zeitung informs that the former governor Franz Voves, who also included the SPÖ, also expressed concerns about organized begging. The new coalition plans to recharge in the question of the betting bans and has committed itself to the introduction of a ban on organized begging.

begging in the legal landscape

The legal situation around begging remains difficult. The Constitutional Court (VfGH) has previously clearly stipulated that a complete ban on begging is not lawful because it prohibits silent begging. The press emphasizes that federal states can enact begging bans, but they cannot generally suppress begging. In Vienna, for example, there were 1458 advertisements about begging last year, with different types of different types such as aggressive or commercial begging. The police have the sovereignty, as they “aggressively” defined and punished.

The various regulations could vary in the individual federal states, whereby some, like Upper Austria and Carinthia, have also implemented begging bans. In Salzburg, for example, a new regulation was issued, the intrusive begging and begging with children under the age of 14 was prohibited. The developments in Styria are therefore part of a larger trend that affects the regulation of begging in Austria.

The discussion about begging remains challenging from a social perspective. Social associations warn of further stigmatization of the beggars that have already been pushed to the brink of society. It is required that accompanying social measures are set up for the affected people in order to counter it with dignity and to offer realistic perspectives.