The new pet law comes into effect on Friday, September 29, 2023, barely a week after we wrote our first article about it.
We had to rewrite the article already. In the law against animal cruelty and neglect, nothing has changed. However, the interim government has not yet been able to pass a regulation on the law due to a lack of time. All attention is currently focused on the formation of a new government. The law has been drafted, except for a few nuances.
Ministry of Social Rights
A sweet articulation of what we would describe as ‘not well thought out’. The sanctions are being tightened, but people are still not quite sure what to make of the half-hearted description about the course to be taken for dog keeping and civil liability insurance.
At present, the sensitive points in the decree have been placed on hold. With elections in sight, a course and insurance for dogs were not a good idea for the incumbent interim government. The shift in implementation is just a delaying tactic until a new government is in place. We are not pulling this off our thumbs, this is from sources at the Ministry of Social Rights.
Accents
The law will ensure that no pets are abandoned and considered “beings with feelings”, according to the civil code. Second objective is to ensure that no more pets are killed in kennels.
This law regulates, in a homogeneous framework for the entire national territory, what was already common sense to the sensible citizen, namely the need to ensure the welfare of animals living with us.
Pet shops
Apart from the last-minute postponement of the application of some relevant aspects of the law until the handover of the current government, deadlines have been set in the text to give those affected by the new law time to adapt. This is the case, for example, for the one-year moratorium from the law’s entry into force for shops selling dogs, cats and ferrets to adapt. Within a year, only breeders will be allowed to sell pets.
The new pet law protects pets and wild species under human care from mistreatment and neglect and encourages responsible adoption and ownership. Hunting dogs and dogs for other professional activities, are put under a different heading here.
Supervision
Besides dogs, cats, ferrets and species listed by the Ministry of Social Rights, other farmed animals registered by their owners as companion animals are considered pets under this law.
What is new is that pets cannot be left unattended for more than three consecutive days, for dogs the maximum is 24 consecutive hours.
The law provides for fines ranging from €500 to €200,000, depending on the severity of the offence.
In short
In summary, the interim government has not yet given approval for the implementation of the regulations of the animal welfare law. The introduction of the list of species that can legally be kept at home has also been postponed.
The Animal Rights and Welfare Law will come into effect on September 29 without the requirement for liability insurance for dog ownership or mandatory courses on responsible ownership, nor the obligation to identify animals other than dogs, cats, and ferrets. This is because the interim government has not yet allowed the approval of the regulations of the law.
This was announced by the acting Director-General for Animal Rights, Sergio García Torres, via a circular from the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda.
Pixabay © Photography
New Pet Law ©
More TRIVIA can be read [HERE]
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