Quick summary: The Ley de Protección y Bienestar Animal (Animal Protection and Welfare Law, Decreto 5-2017) defines maltrato animal (animal mistreatment) as direct or indirect, conscious or unconscious action that causes an animal pain or stress and deprives it of the five freedoms (Art. 3). Violations are classified as graves (serious), muy graves (very serious) and gravísimas (the most serious), with fines of 4, 8 and 12 monthly minimum wages (Arts. 60-62 and 66), tripled for repeat violations (Art. 67). The Unidad de Bienestar Animal (Animal Welfare Unit) imposes and collects them (Art. 64). Separately, the Código Penal (Penal Code) contains a falta (minor criminal offense, Art. 490) punishing animal cruelty with 5 to 20 days of arrest.
This page explains which conduct the law penalizes and the corresponding sanctions. If a dog has bitten someone, see dog bites: what the law says about owner liability.
What counts as mistreatment and cruelty
Art. 3 of Decreto 5-2017 sets out the legal definitions:
- Maltrato animal (paragraph gg): “Acción directa o indirecta, consciente o inconsciente que causa dolor o estrés a un animal y la privación de las cinco libertades del bienestar animal.” [Direct or indirect, conscious or unconscious action that causes an animal pain or stress and deprives it of the five freedoms of animal welfare.]
- Crueldad hacia los animales (cruelty against animals, paragraph u): “Todo hecho realizado por cualquier persona a un animal, con la intención de dañar física y/o mentalmente ocasionando dolor, sufrimiento e incluso poner en peligro la vida del animal o que afecte gravemente su salud.” [Any act by a person against an animal intended to harm it physically and/or mentally, causing pain or suffering, even endangering its life or seriously affecting its health.]
- Responsable, propietario o cuidador (responsible person, owner or caregiver, paragraph ll): the owner, custodian, guardian or anyone with an animal in their care.
The five freedoms (Art. 14):
- Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition.
- Freedom from fear and distress.
- Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort.
- Freedom from pain, injury and disease.
- Freedom to express natural behavior.
Duties of every owner or caregiver (Art. 13)
- Protect animals by guaranteeing the five freedoms and preventing mistreatment, cruelty and suffering.
- Keep them in suitable sanitary and safety conditions that prevent risks to people’s health and safety.
- Maintain an ongoing preventive medicine program supervised by a médico veterinario colegiado activo (a veterinarian with active professional registration).
- Provide conditions that help their companion animal be sociable and prevent the causes of dangerous behavior.
Violations and fines
| Level | Conduct (the law’s list) | Fine (Art. 66) |
|---|---|---|
| Grave (Art. 60) | a) Allowing dogs to roam loose on public roads without supervision by the responsible person, owner or caregiver; b) selling companion animals on public roads, in markets or other unauthorized establishments; c) selling them to people under eighteen; d) failing to guarantee food, rest, shelter, recreation, health, hygiene and protection necessary for survival | 4 monthly minimum wages |
| Muy grave (Art. 61) | a) Harming animals through an act of cruelty; b) breeding, reproducing or selling animals in establishments that fail welfare standards or are unregistered or unauthorized; c) mutilating companion animals’ ears, tails or third phalanges, except procedures performed by veterinarians for justified necessity (appearance is never a justified reason); d) making animals work beyond their physical capacity; e) training methods, devices or techniques that impair welfare or cause suffering; f) abandoning or leaving any animal to fend for itself, regardless of physical condition, health or age | 8 monthly minimum wages |
| Gravísima (Art. 62) | a) Failing to complete mandatory registrations; b) provoking aggressive behavior through human stimulation; c) trading companion species such as dogs and cats for human consumption; d) operating on animals without being a médico veterinario colegiado activo; e) acts of bestiality; f) using animals to test cosmetics or their active ingredients; g) population control of companion animals by methods that cause pain and agony; h) promoting, participating in or staging shows involving dog fights; i) experimenting without authorization from the Comité Institucional de Ética en el Uso y Cuidado Animal (institutional animal-use and care ethics committee); j) abandoning animals used in experiments; k) using live animals as attack targets in training for shows, security sports, protection or guarding, or to test aggression, except species forming part of wild animals’ diets, including animals undergoing rehabilitation for return to their habitat, as well as birds of prey; l) killing an animal through procedures that cause or prolong suffering; m) poisoning or intoxicating an animal with a poisonous or toxic substance, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or volatile, mineral or organic, without a technical or scientific reason, or leaving harmful poisonous substances accessible to animals, people and the environment; n) burying an animal alive; o) publicly showing audiovisual material of prohibited sports, events or shows involving attacks on or mistreatment of animals, except educational or documentary material promoting greater respect for them, or using animals in pornography | 12 monthly minimum wages |
What a minimum wage means under this law (Art. 63): it is the “monto equivalente al menor salario que contiene el Decreto vigente de salarios mínimos” [amount equivalent to the lowest wage in the minimum-wage decree currently in force]. This page does not convert the fines into quetzales; see the current amounts in Guatemala’s minimum wage table.
Additional sanctions (Art. 67):
- Negligencia criminal (criminal negligence): if an animal is in a critical condition at risk of death, or has already died because of negligence by the responsible person, owner or caregiver, the sanction is 12 monthly minimum wages.
- Repeat violations: the imposed sanction is tripled.
- Decomiso (confiscation): immediate confiscation of animals involved in muy graves and gravísimas violations; authorities may place them with registered associations. Confiscation or euthanasia may be carried out when animals could transmit serious diseases that endanger human health.
Who imposes and collects sanctions (Art. 64): the Unidad de Bienestar Animal; nonpayment leads to judicial collection. Legal representatives and people who own or operate establishments using animals, and other establishments involved in violations, are jointly and severally liable (Art. 65). Under Art. 70, 70% of fine revenue goes to the Unidad de Bienestar Animal, which may direct it to rescue centers, associations and nongovernmental organizations working for domestic-animal rescue, protection and welfare; 30% goes to the dedicated funds of the Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (National Council for Protected Areas, CONAP), which may direct it to equivalent work for wildlife.
Express prohibitions (Arts. 51-58)
| Article | What it prohibits |
|---|---|
| Art. 51 | Dog fights promoted by humans |
| Art. 52 | Pet sellers or breeders selling injured or sick animals, or intentionally harming them |
| Art. 53 | Giving drugs or medicines that alter sporting animals’ physical abilities and performance |
| Art. 54 | Using animals for experimentation and research in the cosmetics industry and its ingredients |
| Art. 55 | Foreign circuses using animals entering or transiting Guatemala. Domestic circuses had one year from the law taking effect to transfer their animals to domestic or foreign sanctuaries or rescue centers, with prior Unidad de Bienestar Animal authorization. Breeding was prohibited during that period, with sterilization permitted to prevent it; animals remaining after the deadline were subject to placement by the Unit. State institutions are also prohibited from issuing permits or licenses for new private animal collections for circuses |
| Art. 56 | Domestic or foreign, public or private circuses and shows using animals performing without authorization from the municipality where the event takes place; municipal prohibitions on such circuses or shows remain valid |
| Art. 57 | Acquiring new animals for domestic circuses |
| Art. 58 | Promoting fights or confrontations between animals in public or private shows, for profit or otherwise, and turning animal torture or death into a spectacle; regional traditional public shows may take place with municipal authorization, except those expressly prohibited by the law |
Rescue, reporting and confiscation
- Denuncia (complaint, Art. 48): report to the Policía Nacional Civil (National Civil Police, PNC), the Unidad de Bienestar Animal or the relevant municipality. They must investigate and process the report with judicial authorities to determine animal placement, sanctions or precautionary measures. For the same rule applied to dog bites, see dog bites: where to report; for the criminal route, see filing a complaint with the Ministerio Público.
- Immediate rescue (Art. 47): the PNC or municipal authorities may rescue and provisionally hold an animal suffering mistreatment or cruelty “cuando se verifique el delito en flagrancia” [when the offense is caught in the act]. Temporary custody passes to the Unidad de Bienestar Animal or municipality, which then transfers it to an association registered with the Unit.
- Temporary custody or confiscation (Art. 50): for negligencia leve (minor negligence), when there is no physical harm but care is neglected, authorities first issue a preventive notice allowing a short period to improve the animal’s conditions and surroundings; without improvement, the animal is confiscated. Negligencia criminal applies when the animal is in a critical condition or at risk of death.
What a judge can order (Art. 69)
In addition to civil and criminal liability, a judge may order the responsible person to take these measures:
| Situation | Measure |
|---|---|
| The animal needs veterinary attention | Take it immediately to a médico veterinario colegiado activo for treatment and pay all expenses |
| Nutritional problems | 15 days to restore body condition, demonstrated by a certificate from a médico veterinario colegiado activo |
| Unsuitable housing | 20 days to improve the facilities |
| Negligence | Consignar (place the animal in official custody); the responsible person, owner or caregiver pays one minimum wage |
The Penal Code falta (Art. 490)
Art. 68 of Decreto 5-2017 states: “En cuanto a las responsabilidades civiles y penales se estará a lo dispuesto en la ley correspondiente.” [Civil and criminal liability is governed by the applicable law.]
In the Código Penal, Art. 490 appears in the chapter on faltas against general interests and the regulation of communities: “Quien cometiere actos de crueldad contra los animales o sin necesidad los molestare, o los hiciere tirar o llevar una carga evidentemente excesiva, será sancionado con arresto de cinco a veinte días.” [Anyone who commits acts of cruelty against animals, bothers them unnecessarily, or makes them pull or carry an obviously excessive load is punishable by five to twenty days of arrest.] It is classified as a falta, rather than a delito (the more serious criminal-offense category), in the CENADOJ edition updated through January 31, 2024.
What this page does not cover
This page does not cover the implementing regulation or the detailed obligations of breeders, sellers and animal-protection associations (Arts. 7 and 21-31 of the decree). Wildlife falls under CONAP’s authority under Art. 33. Find MAGA’s channels in the MAGA hub.
Related procedures
- Dog bites: what the law says
- File a complaint with the Ministerio Público
- Minimum wage in Guatemala — the basis for the fines
- Daños y perjuicios (damages), in Spanish
General guidance, not legal advice. The Ley de Protección y Bienestar Animal (Decreto 5-2017) is described using the decree as enacted, published by CENADOJ (Organismo Judicial). The Código Penal reference is the CENADOJ edition updated through January 31, 2024. This page does not establish whether later amendments apply.