Dog Day Afternoon For Valencia And Spain

The Spanish government is currently working on a new law that prohibits pet euthanasia, potential owners obliged to pass a course on pet care, pet sales in stores to be abolished, the right to use wild animals in the circus to be annulled and the elimination of the “dangerous dogs” list. Daniel Hazelhoff reports…

In Spain, every two minutes a pet is abandoned. Many of them end up being euthanised or sacrificed, the taking of the life of a healthy animal, say animal protective services. These practices are illegal in Catalunya, and Madrid, where sacrifice is explicitly illegal, however, Valencia is yet to hold the same position. New legislation is paving the way towards an improvement in animal rights and human liability. 

The objective is to reach a zero-sacrifice census, a near-impossible feat if Valencia is still dealing with the abandoning of pets. “Around 300,000 cats and dogs are estimated to be abandoned each year” in Spain according to la Federación de Asociaciones Protectoras (FAPAM), leading to unjustified euthanasia in municipal pounds. Currently, if an animal is not adopted from a municipal pound in 20-25 days, they are put down.

Around 300,000 cats and dogs are estimated to be abandoned each year

la Federación de Asociaciones Protectoras (FAPAM)

Spain counts more than 13 million identified and registered pets, “which we must add another 6.5 million which aren’t registered in any official sense”, says la Dirección General de Derechos de Los Animales. This new legislation is set to enter into law on 1 February 2023. 

Dogs may no longer be allowed to be left alone for more than 24 hours, legally. Euthanasia will only take place if justified, and said justification would be exclusively tied to end the animal’s suffering, and may only be done by a veterinarian clinic or zoologist. However, a part of the law states that economic issues and abandonment will also be justifications for euthanasia. So the form in which this legal text is written “seems deceptive”, according to Nacho Paunero, president of the animal refuge “El Refugio”.

“This will turn into a sort of cover for owners that no longer want to take care of animals suffering from incurable diseases,” he adds. There are dogs that can live with Leishmaniosis, for instance, he points out, and Leishmaniosis is incurable”. 

No longer will wild animals be allowed to be part of circus attractions, though this part of the law is somewhat looser, being more restrictive in some municipalities, and less so in others, meaning Comunidades must comply with minimum laws and only increase the intensity of restrictions if they see fit, explains Sergio García Torres, general director of Derechos de Los Animales. 

A register will be completed, listing individuals banned from taking care of pets. Circumstances range from mental health to working schedules. 

“It’s not about creating a blacklist,” says García Torres, furthermore stating that the law seems to protect animals from falling into the hands of malpractice veterinarians, and making sure these individuals can not perpetuate further harm anywhere else in Spain. 

Except for fish, pet stores will no longer have the right to sell pets. Only official breeders will be permitted to sell pets to potential owners. This is an attempt to crack down on rogue breeders, and deplorable breeding or storage environments for the animals involved within the black market while aiding official identification of pets, and facilitating tracking. 

The list of potentially dangerous dogs to be eliminated. A deeper focus on the dogs’ behaviour will be taken into account in any proceeding, and not the dog’s breed. All dogs will have to go through an evaluation to identify any special needs. Forced sterilisations are also on the way out – “we don’t know up to what point we can force a dog to receive medical intervention,” says José Miguel Doval. 

This new legislation affects domestic animals, as much as it does their owners. New liabilities are set in place, and more responsibility is to be focused on the owners and the behaviour of their pets.