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Date Published: 30/03/2023

ARCHIVED - Spanish Animal Welfare Law formally passed and will come into effect in September

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Dog owners in Spain will soon be made to take a course and all cats will have to be sterilised at 6 months

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spanish Animal Welfare Law formally passed and will come into effect in September

On Wednesday March 29, the long-awaited and highly controversial Animal Welfare Law was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), which means that there won’t be any further set-backs and the measures will come into force this September.

Unfortunately, in the end, hunting dogs weren’t included, which many animal rights groups believe to be the legislation’s fatal flaw.

The Animal Welfare Law brings a lot of changes that will impact private pet owners as well as pet stores and breeders.

Here are some of the key points:

Training course

One of the most talked-about regulations is the requirement for all dog owners to take a free training course from September, a simple and quick online class that anyone thinking of buying or adopting a pet, as well as those who already own dogs, must enrol in. In addition, every dog owner in Spain will have to purchase civil liability insurance, which until now was confined to potentially dangerous breeds.

Exotic pets

The list of exotic species that people can keep in Spain as pets – and those which are prohibited – has been updated and expanded. This catalogue has been developed by a scientific-expert committee in animal welfare of exotic animals, and it’s expected to be routinely modified over the next four years.

Cat sterilisation

Given that Spain has one of the highest levels of animal abandonment in Europe and the ongoing issues with feral cat colonies, the new law indicates that all owners of felines, be the animals male or female, must have them sterilised before they are six months old.

Breeding and selling animals

The new Animal Welfare Law prohibits the sale of dogs, cats and ferrets in pet shops and aims instead to encourage animal adoption. Along the same lines, and in order to end the illegal puppy trade in particular, only registered breeders will be allowed to sell these pets.

You might also like: Toxic foods for dogs... do you know the 7 tasty human treats which are harmful to animals?

Image: Freepik

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