Animal welfare a priority during Spain's lockdown

Although conflicting information from authorities has animal owners confused

AFTER the Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez declared a state of emergency on Saturday night, pet owners started to panic, wondering if they were allowed to walk their dogs, while those with horses were worrying if they could ride them or not.

The state’s recently created department for animal rights and welfare, headed by Sergio Lopez (Podemos), a few hours later published a short press release to say, that people were allowed to walk their dogs, but the walks had to be short, and basically for the pets’ to do their ‘business’.

They were not allowed to meet up with other dogs or people, and the walker had to pick up after their pet and carry a bottle of water to dilute urine. The walks were to be at times when there were less people around, i.e. early in the morning, at lunchtime or late at night.

A special mention was given to cat colonies. Authorised feeders could indeed carry on feeding the colonies in their care. Again, this had to be done when there were less people about, and where possible, they were to leave food and water for various days.

Permission was granted to feed and attend to animals at rescue centres, farms and smallholdings. In fact feeding animals was made a priority by the government, so pet stores are all open, and their distributors are working hard to keep them stocked.

It wasn’t long before whole families were out walking their dogs, others were stopped by authorities kilometres away from their homes and runners were spotted out jogging with their dogs, while some enterprising people were offering dogs for hire on social media, and not all were joking.

Bizarrely a few breeders received phone calls asking for puppies on the day before and the day after lockdown was implemented.

Jogging is not allowed with your dog because all sporting activities were banned, and jogging is considered a sporting activity.

On the Costa Blanca, a number of worried owners had contacted CBN to complain they had been stopped out with their dogs by local police patrols and ordered to return home and in some cases they have been asked for their dog's passports to prove ownership.

A spokesman for Jávea town hall, where several people had been challenged, clarified on Monday: “Yes you can take your dog out to attend to its needs but do not use this as an excuse for a social walk, run or cycle. They have to be taken out by a single person.” The council is also preparing a series of guides containing FAQS - ‘frequently asked questions’ - and one will concentrate specifically on pets.

La Nucía council announced that all 15 dog parks were open but the following rules had to be followed: Only one person per dog can enter. A maximum of 4 people at a time in the park and to keep a recommended distance of 1.5m apart from each other.

The Guardia Civil posted on their Facebook page that only one person was allowed to walk the dog or dogs, and this had to be the owner, or a family member if they owner could not do so themselves. They also recommended that the pet’s passport be carried at all times, in case authorities checked up on ownership.

Just when everybody more or less had understood the message, on Tuesday at 14.00, Sergio Lopez’s government department published on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook. com/AnimalesGob/) a video of Spain’s head health emergency coordinator, Fernando Simón mention the dog walking situation saying, “When it comes to pets, the daily walk does not have to be cut short, but what is vital is to prevent pet owners from socialising as they would usually do. So it’s not about cutting the walk short, just do your usual daily walk, but keep your distance from other pets and owners while out walking”.

This directly contradicted the department’s first publication that stated ‘short walk’. But we are in a situation where rules change daily and in some cases hourly and at the time of going to press, the video is the latest posting from Sr Lopez’s department.

To ride or not to ride

Meanwhile horse owners, also had grave doubts on what they could or couldn’t do. The Spanish Equestrian Federation had received a notification from Mr. Lopez’s department stating that all sporting activity was suspended and no training could take place at any installations, whether they were undercover or open air.

This prompted the Spanish Equestrian Federation, under pressure from their members, to request horse owners and trainers be allowed to access equestrian centres to exercise the horses for at least 45 minutes in enclosed areas on the premises. They also said that this would not be considered training, as it was vital for a horse’s health, due to their complex digestive system, to exercise, as the majority of horses were stabled. They also wanted Sr. Lopez’s department to make regional and local authorities aware of this need.

The reply received from Sr. López was open to all sorts of interpretations, as it said that the feeding and maintenance of horses' health was paramount, and to this end they could be minimally exercised to be kept healthy. This exercising of equines was to be carried out by employees of equestrian centres or riding schools wherever possible or by their owners if it was not possible for employees to do so. However, the movement of people for this end had to be carried out according to the Royal Decree of March 14, and all unnecessary travel had to be avoided. In addition, it was up to regional veterinary services in coordination with the equestrian centres, to specify the required protocols.

Reading this left horse owners in a state of total confusion, could they ride or not. Murcia and Valencia equestrian federations published notes on their webpages stating that their insurance companies had informed them they would not be covering any riding accidents during the lockdown period. So that meant all amateur riders were grounded.

But what about the professional riders, who paid social security, could they ride or not?

They soon got an answer when police authorities visited riding centres in the Valencia region and told them they had to close their doors to horse owners, and only staff could enter to attend to the horses. In addition, that no riding was to take place, as the whole point of stopping sporting activities, was not only to stop contagion of coronavirus, but to also prevent the hospitals having to waste valuable resources dealing with sporting accidents.

Horse owners lucky enough to have their animals at home can walk them in hand, or lunge them, or let them loose in a paddock on their property but no riding at all can take place.

In the case of people having smallholdings away from their place of residence, they are allowed to feed and attend to the animals they have there. But this task must be carried out by only one person and it is a good idea to carry the paperwork (REGA document) for equestrian smallholdings in case police stop them.

Vets and farriers are working, but phone appointments are a must. Any changes to these rules will be published in next weeks CBNews and on social media.