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October 11
The new national animal welfare law has been in force now for two weeks. The most welcomed change for dog owners is that their pets are allowed inside into bars and restaurants and hotels unless the management have a clearly visible sticker stating no pets allowed inside.
They are also allowed inside taxis and public transport and public buildings unless there is a municipal or regional bylaw to the contrary.
Pets can no longer be left out on balconies or patios or chained up all day. And dogs have to be supervised at least once every 24 days.
But I have noticed that many dog owners and mainly cat owners haven’t really taken on board the fact that all their pets have to be microchipped, passported, vaccinated and in the case of dogs, if both sexes live together, one has to be neutered. In the case of cats, all cats over six months of age have to be neutered unless belonging to a registered breeder.
If people are feeding so called ‘feral cats’ on their property, then they are obliged to capture them, neuter them and chip them and take care of their vaccinations. But again what are the authorities going to do? Send out police to check to see if cats are chipped? Good luck catching them first!
Now those who go to buy their fresh bread on their daily walk or pop in to a pharmacy have to leave their dog at home. They can no longer tie them up outside for a few minutes. The first victim was a woman who left her dalmation outside a pharmacy in Galicia while she collected her meds. She was fined €500, but due to public outcry, she was let off with a warning.
Street cats in colonies now have to be strictly controlled with the numbers of cats, location of their colonies and their carers identified by town halls. This means they have to be chipped to the town hall, and regularly vaccinated and wormed… Where is this money going to come from? My guess that it will be the taxpayer forking out.
What this has meant also is sadly people who were happy to have an animal while they didn’t have to be fully responsible for them have been slowly dumping them since the law was published in March as they don’t want or cannot afford the costs of insurance and taking care of their pets as established by the law.
This law will go down in Spanish history as the law that will cause more abandonments than ever and has all sectors criticising it from veterinary associations to the rescue and animal rights people themselves.
And the government did not or could not take it upon themselves to reduce the IVA on veterinary bills and treatments, which is a whopping 21%, while in other European countries it stands at 10%. This would have been the quickest way to benefit pets and owners.
And bizarrely a recent change in the penal code has virtually decriminalised zoofilia, unless the animal is physically injured.
I really do not understand the government department and officials who dreamt it up, I do wonder if any of them ever owned a pet.
Marie Heard
