Uzbekistan's Animal Cruelty Law: Article 202-1 and Article 111

Seventy people were punished for cruelty to animals in Uzbekistan in 2025. Sixty-six paid fines, four spent time in administrative detention, and not one was charged with a crime. Those figures came from the Supreme Court's press secretary, speaking to Gazeta.uz in February 2026, and they say more about the law than its text does.

Uzbekistan has had a criminal offence of animal cruelty since November 2021. It raised the cruelty fines again in 2026, after tightening the separate animal-care article in 2025. A bill that would make jail a real possibility has been in the works since April 2026. Here's how the pieces fit together, and why so few cases reach a criminal court.

Two articles, two codes

There are two main provisions, and the difference between them matters.

Article 111 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility is where almost every case lands. It covers cruelty to animals, defined as torturing them or causing them suffering out of selfish or other base motives. Penalties are fines or, in aggravated cases, up to 15 days' administrative arrest. This isn't a criminal record.

Article 202-1 of the Criminal Code, in force since 27 November 2021, is narrower than people often assume. It applies only when the cruelty causes the animal's death or injury and the person has already been given an administrative penalty for the same kind of act. First-time offenders, however bad the act, go through Article 111 first.

Under 202-1 the court can impose a fine of 25–50 times the base calculation value (BCV), up to 240 hours of community work, correctional labour for up to a year, or restriction or deprivation of liberty for up to six months.

That repeat-offender design explains the zero in the 2025 figures. To be prosecuted, someone has to be caught, fined, and then caught again doing something worse.

How the penalties climbed

Before 2021 the punishment was close to symbolic. CABAR.asia reported in 2019 that fines under Article 111 had been 0.5 to 2 minimum wages, about $12–47 at the time, before a mid-2019 amendment nudged them up. Deputies had proposed 10–15 minimum wages that year and been turned down.

In force from	Article 111, first offence	Article 111, aggravated	Criminal Code 202-1
June 2019	1–3 minimum wages	Repeat: 3–5 minimum wages or up to 15 days	Did not exist
27 Nov 2021	3–5 BCV	5–10 BCV or up to 15 days	25–50 BCV, community work, or up to 6 months
28 Jun 2026	7–10 BCV	15–25 BCV or up to 15 days	Unchanged

"Aggravated" means a repeat offence within a year, cruelty in front of minors, or cruelty that kills or injures the animal. The 2026 amendments came from a law dated 25 March 2026 and took effect on 28 June.

What does that mean in money? The BCV has been 440,000 som since 1 September 2026. At that rate a first-offence fine is 3.08–4.4 million som, the aggravated tier is 6.6–11 million, and the criminal fine is 11–22 million. When the criminal article took effect in 2021, with the BCV at 270,000 som, the same 25–50 BCV worked out at 6.75–13.5 million.

Pets, strays and a separate article

Not every animal offence is "cruelty". Keeping animals badly is dealt with under Article 110, which amendments signed on 17 January 2025 renamed "violation of animal care rules". Gazeta.uz reported that fines for individuals jumped from 0.1–0.5 BCV to 3–5 BCV, and to 10–15 BCV if someone's health or property is harmed. The same package added Article 92-1, punishing private keeping of wild animals that are banned from private ownership with fines and confiscation.

Then there's registration. A law signed on 6 August 2025 requires cats and dogs, along with livestock, to be identified and entered in a national database; for pets that means within three months of birth or acquisition. Kun.uz reported that it came into force in August 2026, with the main owner obligations starting on 1 January 2028. One likely effect: an animal with a traceable owner is harder to dump quietly.

Strays are where the law and the street diverge most. CABAR.asia, writing in 2022, described government decrees that require veterinary services to examine and quarantine stray animals and allow them to be shot only if rabid and a danger to people. The same report quoted the Mehr va Oqibat animal protection society: cruelty complaints rose from about 100 in 2017 to about 1,500 in 2021. Does that mean cruelty rose fifteenfold? Probably not. It more likely means people started reporting it, which is its own kind of progress.

The numbers courts actually hand down

The Supreme Court has released figures in pieces:

2020–2024: 397 people held liable under Article 111. 363 were fined, 34 given administrative arrest.
First half of 2025: 34 people, of whom 32 were fined and 2 detained.
All of 2025: 70 people. 66 fined, a total of 84.25 million som, and 4 detained. No criminal cases.

Two things stand out. The yearly count isn't climbing: 70 in 2025 against an average of roughly 80 a year in 2020–2024. And the fines are modest: 84.25 million som across 66 people averages about 1.28 million each, which is at the bottom of the old 3–5 BCV range.

The 2026 bill: up to a year in prison

In spring 2026 cats were killed at a guesthouse in Bostanliq district, outside Tashkent. An online petition demanding tougher penalties passed 15,500 signatures, and Kun.uz later reported more than 16,000 online and over 6,000 on paper. In early April the Ecological Party's faction in the Legislative Chamber announced it was drafting a law "On the Protection of Animals from Cruel Treatment".

As reported by Gazeta.uz and The Times of Central Asia, the draft would:

raise the maximum criminal fine from 50 to 200 BCV, and the maximum prison term from six months to one year;
make offenders pay the full cost of treating an injured animal;
set out owners' duties and ban abandoning animals;
allow guide dogs and emotional support animals on public transport.

At the 412,000 som BCV in force in April, 200 BCV was reported as 82.4 million som. At today's 440,000 it would be 88 million.

Has it passed? As of late September 2026 we found no report of the bill being adopted, or even of a first reading in the Legislative Chamber. The March 2026 amendments are law. The one-year prison term isn't. The name isn't new either: a draft with the same title was published for public discussion in July 2019 and never became law. We'd be surprised if this one stalled the same way, given the petition and the fact that Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration, spoke publicly about cruelty to animals in August. But a speech isn't a statute.

If you're travelling

None of this is likely to touch a visitor directly, but two things are worth knowing. Stray dogs and cats are common, and rabies is present in the region, so don't handle strays and get medical advice straight after any bite (our health notes cover this). And if you witness cruelty, it's an offence you can report to the police. For the wider picture of rules visitors run into, see Uzbekistan's laws and customs.

Sources

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.