Caring for animals in a new state of emergency

A state of emergency was declared in the Madrid region on October 9 to deal with especially dangerous situations of uncontrolled infections caused by the SARSCoV2 virus.

Since this situation remains a possibility in other areas of the country, it might be useful to consider how it affects people who look after animals.

The royal decree published in the official state bulletin ( BOE) restricted the movement of citizens in the following municipalities: Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, Leganés, Madrid, Móstoles, Parla, Torrejón de Ardoz. As a result of this prohibition against residents leaving their municipalities or local areas, the president of the general directorate for animal rights, Sergio García Torres issued an official statement saying that managers of stray cat colonies could continue this work, as long as they carry the following documents:

1. Certificate from an animal welfare organisation.

2. Declaration of personal responsibility.

3. Proof of an appointment with a veterinary clinic.

However, apart from looking after feral cats, there are other cases in which residents who have animals at second homes or in the countryside outside of their municipality, or neighbourhood have to travel there to prevent these animals from dying of starvation or thirst.

For this reason, a very worried resident of Torrejón de Ardoz contacted me via my DeAnimals website because they had a dog at their country house in Cuenca, and asked me for help because they are retired and did not know how to draw up a declaration of responsibility ( declaración responsable) or the other documentation they needed to carry with them when they went to look after their dog.

My reply was as follows: Here you have the template, you have to fill it in and sign it.

My advice is to print it twice in case they stop you and ask you for one. Also take the veterinary card, any other document and photos of your dog that you have.

If you are stopped there is no guarantee that an officer will not fine you, because not all officers interpret the rule correctly, but it is better to take this declaration of responsibility with you than nothing at all. I also advise you to contact the ministry for the interior, the ministry for health and the director general for animal rights. Write to them separately, explaining your case and see what they say, because if they tell you by email that you can go, you will have another document in your favour.

Here are the emails: Ministe rio de Sanidad oiac@ mscbs. es; Ministerio de Interior ses. normativa@ interior. es; Director General de Derechos de los Animales dgda@ vpsocial. gob. es and sgarciat@ vpsocial. gob. es

Please tell us how it all goes, from your journey to look after your dog, to whether they answer your emails, and if you want you can send a photo of your dog when you see it – and if so tell us its name.

P. S. If they fine you for this, let me know and I will send you a free template to lodge an appeal. Good luck!

Raquel

During the first state of emergency confinement from March to June, my team at DeAnimals and I drew up various free templates for declarations of responsibility so that people who had to travel to look after animals could at least carry something with them.

This document serves to at least provide the person carrying it with a reason in writing for their journey. This does not mean to say that if an officer believes that this outing is not appropriate, you would not be fined; although a person who is fined can appeal if the reason for their trip was a result of force majeure a situation of need, like for example taking a sick or injured animal to a vet, looking after feral cats, looking after their own animals which are located somewhere other than their home, or looking after the animals of people who are ill or have died, etc.

If you come across a situation of this type, I advise you to do the same as I told the person who contacted me. You can draw up your own declaration of responsibility justifying your outing or you can contact me and I will send you a template if you do not know how to do it. And above all, I advise you to send an email to the abovementioned authorities to see whether, in the next set of rules, they can make it clear and in writing that one can look after animals, and not leave these matters up to the interpretation of whichever officer stops a person.

Good luck if you have to travel to look after animals. And remember, just for being a reader of these articles, if you need a template you can contact me via the animal protection institute ( IPA) website, www. institutodeproteccionanimal. com/ es, and I will explain the steps to follow to get one for free.