Brazil moves to tighten penalties for animal cruelty

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved the report on Bill 885/2025, authored by deputy Duda Ramos (RR), to strengthen animal protection. The measure would allow termination for just cause of workers proven to have mistreated animals and incorporates the definition of cruelty from Law 14.064/2020, expanding liability to all animals subjected to abuse or neglect. The proposal also amends labor regulations to apply the sanction across most occupations, except where animal handling is essential to the job.

Separately, a Brazilian councilor emphasized that online animal cruelty must be treated as a serious crime, calling for rapid removal of violent content from digital platforms, thorough investigations by authorities, and public denunciation. The dual push reflects growing public concern over both physical and digital acts of animal abuse in Brazil.