Cat colonies protected by '3.0' municipal bylaws
THERE are more and more municipal animal protection bylaws that protect cat colonies.
A municipal bylaw is the ‘maximum law’ that can be issued by a council and must be complied with in its municipal area. In the field of animal protection, we have wellknown animal protection bylaws.
We can find more than 8,000 different animal protection bylaws throughout Spain, and when we analyse each one of them, we can appreciate that with regard to the legal protection of cat colonies they can be put into three different groups.
These three categories are referred to at the IPA (animal protection institute) as bylaw versions 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0.
What is a 3.0 animal protection bylaw?
A 3.0 municipal animal protection ordinance, in terms of cat colonies, is one that includes at least the following:
1. References to legislation applicable to cat colonies
2. Up to date concepts and definitions related to cat colonies.
3. Specific content and annexes about cat colonies.
I call an animal protection bylaw 1.0 if it does not regulate or mention cat colonies. This is very antiquated municipal legislation that is not very up to date with social reality.
A 2.0 bylaw would be one that regulates cat colonies in a very timid way, which only refers to the TNR method (trap, neuter and return to the place to the place it was caught - CES in Spanish) and/or limits the locations of cat colonies.
A 3.0 bylaw would be one that regulates and protects cat colonies to the maximum, and responds to public demand for animal protection.
Do you know which of these versions applies to the bylaw in the municipality where you live, work and/or manage cat colonies?
At the IPA, we refer to municipal animal protection bylaws as 3.0 if they include legislation which regulates feline colonies, and contain up to date concepts and basic contents.
Incidentally, in the course which we recently gave at IPA about bylaws which are 3.0 regarding cat colonies, we analysed different ordinances which had been provided to us by the students who attended this course, and in turn we gave them legal advice about how to improve their content.
We specifically analysed the municipal animal protection bylaws of the following municipalities: Alicante; Seseña in Toledo; Lebrija in Sevilla; Córdoba; Motril, Almuñecar and Gójar in Granada; San José in Ibiza; Firgas in Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Yecla in Murcia; Boadilla del Monte in Madrid; Cox in Alicante; and Vélez in Málaga.
By the way, I must point out that at the IPA we are very proud of our students, because most of them are members of animal welfare organisations which are collaborating actively and at a professional level with their town councils to improve the situation of cat colonies. Undoubtedly, all of them are making a great effort to modify their respective animal protection bylaws to protect cat colonies as much as possible.
Most of the above-mentioned regulations are 1.0 bylaws which allow the slaughter of abandoned and stray animals which it has not been possible to get adopted within a short period of time, usually no more than 20 days, and they do not regulate cat colonies either.
These are undoubtedly quite outdated bylaws which require urgent modification, including zero slaughter of animals, i.e. that healthy animals cannot be slaughtered and/or can have a dignified life without suffering and with access to veterinary treatment; and that they regulate cat colonies in detail, not only contemplating application of the TNR method, but also establishing shelters to protect them from the inclemencies of the weather (rain, sun, etc.) and providing veterinary attention, etc.
Of the above-mentioned bylaws, only the Alicante bylaw regulates cat colonies and it does so only timidly. It would be more or less a 2.0 bylaw and it is a pity that it is not a 3.0 bylaw but this is because although it was modified in 2020, it does not include shelters or refuges, amongst other aspects to protect street cats as much as possible.
On the other hand, the bylaw from Cox in Alicante province - which dates from 2018 - is a 3.0 ordinance because it contains specific concepts about cat colonies.
There is a specific section only about cat colonies, where it regulates how they should be fed, their carers, that they should have shelters, that it should be reported if they are abused, and and addresses the issue of disturbing cats with firecrackers, objects, dogs, etc.
In addition, this regulation contains several very interesting annexes at the end of it, such as templates for the municipal registry of cat colonies, and a checklist for monitoring stray cats, etc.