Putting pets first – Valencia brings in new law
New animal welfare legislation for the region published at last
THE VALENCIA region’s animal welfare law was finally published in the regional official bulletin (DOGV) on Monday, four years after the first draft was drawn up.
The law applies to ‘companion animals’ and does not cover bulls, farm animals, wild animals or those considered hunted species.
It introduces important changes, declaring the region a ‘zero euthanasia’ area so that shelters and dog homes cannot put animals to sleep for economic reasons, overpopulation, lack of space, impossibility of finding an adopter within a certain period, abandonment by the person legally responsible, old age, or illness or injury with the possibility of treatment.
Also owners are obliged to treat their animals for any health problems when a curative or palliative treatment exists.
Town halls will be able to regulate the maximum number of pets in homes in their municipality, with sufficient flexibility and proportionality to allow municipal resolutions to be adapted to each ‘real situation’.
Don’t dump pets
The eradication of abandonment is one of the most important aims of this law and, in order to achieve this, new
legal measures have been implemented ‘in relation to the fundamental pillars of the fight against abandonment’.
These include full identification and traceability, to which end a new census will be created called the ‘supramunicipal register of identification of pets’ – and all felines, canines and mustelids (ferrets) will have to be registered here.
All pets must be microchipped and registered before leaving their breeders or shelter and the new owner
will be responsible for changing the registration to their name. Dogs coming from abroad will have to be included on the register.
It is now compulsory to neuter uncontrolled felines and dogs, i.e. those which have access to the outside of properties, or their homes are not properly enclosed, plus abandoned or stray animals from shelters and cat colonies.
In cases where animals of the same species and different sexes cohabit in the same dwelling or location, at least one of the sexes must be neutered when reproductive control cannot be exercised, except in the case of registered breeders.
Dogs cannot be kept permanently chained up, have to be correctly fed, watered and have hygienic living conditions and when walked have to be on a lead of a maximum of two metres. Owners must also pick up their pets’ excrement.
Town halls will create registers of cat colonies and identify the volunteers that look after them. Any runover pet will have to be photographed and scanned for its microchip number and the owner will be notified.
Authorities will also carry out spot checks on pets to see if they are microchipped.
Town halls will also be able to demand a tax on the ownership, breeding or boarding of pets.
Every town hall must have premises for pets that are picked up in the municipality – if they can’t afford to do so, they must have a contract with the provincial government which will take care of dealing with animals in their municipality.
All shelters and associations will have to be registered and give yearly details of all the animals that they have taken in and placed for adoption.
Adoptees will have to pay the town hall for sterilisation and vaccination costs if they adopt a pet. The actual adoption paperwork will be free.
The law requires regulations on how certain parts of it are to be carried out, and these will be drawn up within a two-year period.
Fines for breaking the law will range from €300 for mild offences to €45,000 for very serious offences.