The entry into force of the Animal Welfare Act This is causing scenes never seen before by the managers of animal shelters and shelters who are overwhelmed by the continuous arrival of pets, especially dogs, in addition to being surprised by the conditions in which they arrive after being abandoned.
Almost a year ago, a law promoted by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 20230which has a significant impact on animal rights and welfare according to information and testimonies collected by OKGREEN.
This law introduced several changes that affect pet owners and those who wish to have pets, some uncertainties and fears which lead to very complicated situations for shelters, rescues and animal managers, with repercussions on their well-being such as abandonment.
Developing law
This law, still in the definition and development phase in many aspects of the regulation that seeks well-being and “aims to implement legal mechanisms in order to promote animal protection and prevent the high level of animal abandonment in our countryinvolving public authorities and citizens in respecting all animals”, as specified in the approved text.
Following its launch, animal associations and protectors declare that Dogs are being abandoned in large numbers. From Vigo, Andrés León, president of the Association for the Protection of Animals and Plants of this Galician city, confirms that “basically, the majority of abandonments are dogs, because there were Many people have misinterpreted information from a social law still in the development phase in many aspects.
“When they started reading that they had to have insurance, that they had to have a collar, yes, a muzzle, that if they couldn’t let go…, well, many people started to be afraid of these things that were subject to administrative sanctions,” Andrés tells us.
Ignorance of the norm
José Miguel Doval, president of the Royal Canine Society of Spain (RSCE), confirms that “there is a lot of ignorance “on what the new law means.”
He says that “the case has surely also happened with people who already had a dog and who think that You will have to face obligations that you will not be able to fulfill. and decided to abandon the dogs. I think what was missing was a lot of didactics from the government.
Andrés León says that “Animals started being abandoned left and rightsomething seasonal, like late April and May, from people who were giving away puppies in ChristmasAfter three, four or five months, you would start to see that they were being abandoned in the summer or just before people went on holiday.
“We are overwhelmed”
For several months, they have noticed the arrival of more dogs, “now it is continuous and they arrive in worse conditions.” We are overwhelmed“The arrival of more animals puts shelters and rescues in very difficult situations.
“In fact, in a more rural area, there is a shelter that had to close the reception doors because they are not enough to manage the number of animals that come in,” warns the president of Vigo.
It seems that there is an effect contrary to what is expected of the law on animal welfare, an increase in abandonments and complicated situations.
From the protection association, Andrés is very worried because “the bad thing now is that we have found ourselves this year several animals with cuts on the neck to locate the microchip and remove it so that they don’t locate them. In other words, truly animal.
Collars with cuts
Andrés gives us the photo of Iris, an abandoned dog whose microchip has been removed that she arrived in deplorable conditions, underfed, “they left her half dead.” In another WhatsApp, he sends us a photo of another dog’s neck, writing: “To this dog They cut it in several places until they find it and take it away,” referring to the microchip.
The issue of microchipping is one of the key issues of the new law, which makes it mandatory for dogs, cats and ferrets. It should not be forgotten that in Spain, one in three households lives with at least one pet.and thus, according to information from the pet registries of the autonomous communities, there are currently more than 13 million pets registered and identified.
Despite this, there are studies such as the one carried out jointly by the Affinity Foundation and the Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, which indicate that only 27.7% of dogs arriving in shelters are identified with an electronic chip.
Double the number of abandonments
“There are still many dogs that do not have a microchip And there is no way to locate the ownersThey hide behind it and abandonment occurs in these animals, because from the moment they have it, it will be more difficult to be freed from administrative control“, describes Andrés.
Until recently, he was responsible for the municipal animal shelter A Madroa in Vigo and explains that the abandonment of dogs were shot down “in a terrifying manner”“, almost doubling the number of dogs abandoned each week and states that “nothing like this has ever been experienced.”
“For example, the average number of abandoned animals we collected in Vigo was three, four per week, and now it’s between nine and ten o’clockmore than double,” Andrés said.
Decision not to have dogs
From the RSCE, its president, tells us that they have no evidence of an increase in the abandonment of these animals, but they note a decrease in several aspects, due to the uncertainty which was created with the law: “because adequate education has not been provided and we do not know what the obligations are, especially for people who now want to have dogs.”
“There was many people who have decided not to have dogsnot only because of the decrease in queries when searching for a breeder of a certain breed, etc., but also because the number of specimens registered in our genealogical books last year,” confirms Doval.
Andrés León and José Miguel Doval argue that ignorance and to fear by owners of what it means to have a dog with the premises of a law still in development.
Four years have passed since its drafting and approval and, during this time, “There have been many hoaxes“A lot of things have been said, a lot of fear has been instilled in people,” says the RSCE president.
Ignorance
He gives as an example the uncertainty created “when we said that we could not leave an animal even for a minute at the door of a store or that you will need to have liability insurance.
Doval clarifies that “in reality, the majority, Almost all normal people’s dogs are covered by the liability insurance that each of us has as part of our home insurance.. Having failed to explain well, people simply prefer to save themselves the trouble of having to know exactly what you need to do or the dissatisfaction with having to face new paymentsto create new stories and, directly, does not acquire a dog or abandons the one he owns“.
The solution to achieve well-being and avoid the abandonment of dogs involves, among other measures, mainly: awareness“disclosure in schools And institutes Basically, that people realize that having a pet that will give you everything, that will greet you when you enter the house, that will cry when you leave, that it represents a unconditional and absolute love. But there are also people who abandon it later. It’s incredible,” says Andrés León.
