This question: Animal police. Should be the most important election issue 2010!

It is well known by the population of Sweden that animal cruelty and mistreatment is not allowed, however it is not monitored in any efficient way. Mistreated animals can be kept by their owners for years or until they die and the only retribution is a fine. A more efficient way of handling the problem and controlling the animals health should be installed. A group of specialists called the Animal Police will solve this problem.

In Sweden the issue of animal cruelty is usually handled by giving the owners of mistreated animals a fine of a larger or smaller sum. The animals themselves however are not taken from the owner. Moreover the fine is often too small to cause the individual owners any real discomfort. The mistreating of animals is usually lack of food and good shelter. This saves the owner large sums of money each year, sums that the fines rarely surpass. Another handling of the problem is sometimes to forbid the owner to have any more animals, but it is rarely monitored and they can often acquire new animals within a short time. The message these methods and their executions give to the population is that it is quite ok to mistreat animals. That it is bad, but not really serious.

We believe that the installment of a special group or police force, called the Animal Police, will give a clear message that animal cruelty is not allowed and that it will be dealt with in an efficient way to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals. The Animal Police force will be educated personnel that works closely together with veterinarians and the local police. The installment of this group will also give many opportunities for work, that is much needed in these times, since it will encompass the whole country.

The Animal Police is a very good way of handling these animal cruelty issues. They will inspect how animals are being kept in both homes and on farms based on incoming calls from the public population. A call centre will receive complaints about animal mistreatment and an inspector will go and assess the situation. If the situation is found to be bad for the animals a warning and a smaller fine will be issued as well as advice to the owner on how to solve the problem. A revisit will be made, with an accompanying veterinarian, after giving the owner time to fix the problems. If the issues are still there, there will be a final warning to the owner that if the problem is not assessed within a certain time, all the animals will be taken from them immediately and the owner will be forbidden to hold animals (or in some cases to hold more than a certain amount of animals). The owner will pay a high fine and will be added to a list and regular checkups will be made to ensure that he or she will comply to the arrangement and not get new or too many animals again. If the owner did fix the issues with the animal keeping they will be monitored for a while to ensure that he or she doesn't fall back to the old behavior of mistreating the animals. If the owner continues to behave well they will be taken off the list.
This treatment of the animal cruelty issue will give clear messages as to how important it is to take care of our animals and it will ensure that people follow the restrictions. It will also make people think twice before acquiring animals, especially if they do not have an economical situation or the engagement for it.
Installing this group will create many new jobs for the population as well. It will take time to get the organization to run smoothly, but the sooner it is installed the sooner it will work properly.

Some will complain that installing this group will take too much time, cost too much and won't make a difference.

Of course it will take time, everything in this large scale takes time. But it will not go faster at any other time so it is better to begin now. The sooner this group is ready to begin their work, the sooner animal handling in this country will become better.
The cost will only be an initial problem as, when it runs smoothly, the taxes from the increased working population and the fines from the mistreats will in the long run be profitable. It will also lead to increased work in both the veterinaries and the police department. This is a goal worth paying for to get started. It will also make a difference. To claim that the Animal Police would not make a difference is like saying the local police force doesn't make a difference in the community. The populace will learn that their involvement and reports about animal cruelty will make an actual difference. Every action taken to prevent cruelty towards animals will make this a better country.