Animal Abandonment

Animal abandonment

Introduction

The main causes that animals are abandoned are unwanted litters, while the end of the hunting season and personal circumstances are very close.

The center urges to better understand the behavior of animals and the responsibility of having an animal is understood. They also declared the importance of identifying their dog or cat with a microchip.

Next, we will analyze the animal protection index of World Animal Protection. This issue examines the recognition of animal sensitivity and the importance of animal protection as a social value within the country, including government support to the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, the prohibition of cruelty and the protection of different categories of animals.

Recently, Royal Decree 401 of 2012, which develops the organic structure of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, includes in article 8.1.f Provisions that include specific responsibilities on the promotion of animal welfare.

In addition, there is an individual legislation that designates different government agencies as responsible for the implementation of each law, and the General State Administration is responsible for the implementation of Law 32/2007. In addition, autonomous communities have organs to develop specific problems about animal welfare, examples of which can be found in Catalonia, Madrid and Cantabria.

Developing

We could ask ourselves, are there economic and social barriers to improve animal welfare in the country? It is not suggested that the government lacks human or financial resources to improve the responsibility for animal welfare problems in Spain.

However, it seems that there is a lack of commitment to the issue at high levels of government, as shown by delays in the implementation of some European Union directives on animal welfare, which presents a significant barrier to improve the situation . However, implementation obligations are bound by legislation.

For its part, there is also legislation for commitment to the World Animal Health Organization (OIE). Spain is a member of the OIE with a Spanish representative who is also part of the Advisory Scientific Council for the scientific and technical reviews of the OIE. In addition, Spain occupies the vice presidency of the OIE in Europe since 2012 and participates very actively in the development of its functions.

The active role of Spain in the EU means that the country has adopted a notable collaboration approach when addressing the challenges and requests of the OIE. Voluntary commitment initiatives with the organization focus on animal health, but there is also a strong independent component of animal welfare, indicating the country’s clear intention to address animal welfare as an independent issue.

In addition, there is no evidence that the human and financial resources available for the Spanish government are a barrier to commitment to the OIE and, in fact, institutional investment in the OIE bodies is evidenced in government accounts.

Spanish government commitments are clearly established and can be enforced through specific agreements with the organization.

However, Spanish legislation does not cover aquaculture, the control of street dog populations and the sacrifice of animals for disease control.

By including elements of the GPE standards and principles in the legislation, they should be entered into broader government strategies in the sectors of agriculture and research. The Ministry of Agriculture has provided guidelines and regulations that include references to the OIE and extend Law 32/2007. This should help lead progress in relation to the role of OIE in animal welfare in the country.

As already mentioned, many areas in Spain have problems related to street dog populations. The Ministry of Agriculture acknowledges that the OIE provides rules for managing such situations, but are not included in the Spanish national Spanish legislation or politics. On the other hand, the incorporation of the OIE standards on aquaculture would also be beneficial.

There are execution mechanisms in Law 32/2007 for the violation of those provisions that appear in the OIE standards, and which consist of financial sanctions.

The Ministry of Agriculture has published policy and legislation updates as the country’s legislative framework on animal welfare has been updated in recent years. The Ministry also publishes news about issues such as those related to Law 32/2007. However, there is no evidence of any constant objective or monitoring of the objectives related to animal welfare in Spain.

Therefore, the Government should be encouraged to develop a clear strategy on the improvement of animal welfare and begin to periodically inform about progress towards the identified goals.

Regarding education on animal care and protection, there is legislation with partial application. The Government has confirmed that aspects of animal welfare are included in several educational levels and, in particular, with professionals who work directly with animals. The legislation has been developed mainly at the level of Autonomous Communities.

There is no evidence of existing barriers to introduce mandatory elements of education on animal welfare, but the government is encouraged to make these more visible improvements. To promote communication and consciousness, that is, consult with interested parties, there is also legislation.

Article 24 of Law 50 of 1997 has a provision that establishes that the Government must consult with animal protection organizations on the production of new norms in this regard. At the level of the Autonomous Community, some consultations have been made with the interested parties, for example, in relation to the Catalan Bulls Prohibition.

Improving animal welfare in Spain effectively will require the participation of interested parties with experience and knowledge, for which the government will have to prepare a specific policy to support its relationship with the main interested parties in matters of animal welfare in the countryand make this relationship more visible.

The general mechanisms of Law 50 of 1997 are applicable, but there are no specific references to animal welfare organizations and, therefore, there is no evidence of legal consequences derived from inaction in this matter.

Regarding the formal recognition of animal sensitivity although it is not explicitly recognized in the legislation, Law 32/2007 on the care of animal animals, transport, sacrifice and experimentation refers to suffering. However, this only covers the vertebrate animals that are used in the production and animals used in scientific research and education (article 2), and specifically excludes hunting and fishing, wild animals (even in captivity) andBulls. Law 32/2007 does not contain measures to ensure that farm animals do not suffer unnecessary suffering, but only apply to animals that have any economic value.

At the European Union level, article 13 of the European Union’s operation treaty recognizes animal sensitivity and requires that Member States take into account the requirements of animal welfare when formulating and applying the policies of the European Union. In accordance with article 10 of the National Constitution, this article is part of the legal system and does not require legal transposition.

Therefore, the government should update the existing legislation and ensure that all animals categories are included in this recognition regardless of their economic value.

Although existing provisions that recognize certain aspects of sensitivity are a positive sign that it is possible to improve, it seems that this problem is not a priority for the government. In addition, there are sociocultural barriers to improve animal welfare, for example, with respect to bullfights and hunting. The exclusion of wild animals from the legal classification of sentence beings also shows that there are barriers to improve animal welfare.

The legislation that refers to the suffering of animals contains mechanisms that can lead to community imprisonment or service.

On the other hand, there is also partial support to the Government regarding the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. In 2009, the 27 Ministers of Agriculture of the European Council, even of Spain, unanimously approved a statement on the UDAW that encourages the European Commission to support and initiate new international initiatives to raise awareness and create a greater consensus on animal welfare,and invite the Member States and the Commission to support this initiative. Beyond this support from the European Union, the government does not seem to have made any independent commitment to the UDAW.

It is important to note that the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare is a proposed formal recognition of a set of principles that grant due recognition of animal welfare between governments and the international community.

There are no developments directly related to the UDAW in the policy and legislation produced individually by this country. The UDAW can have an important role in bringing the concept of animal welfare to the attention of the general public, but there was no evidence that the support of the European Union to the UDAW had a direct consequence in the discussions of Spain on animal welfare.

Conclusions

The main obstacle is the lack of an active role of government in the development of policies and legislation regarding animal welfare, taking into account the principles and precepts of the UDAW. There are no financial barriers or other important resources for improvement. However, there may be sociocultural barriers to improve animal welfare.

Regarding laws against animal suffering, there is legislation with partial application. Article 337 of the Criminal Code establishes that those who cruelly mistreat pets and unfairly cause death or injuries that cause serious physical damage will be punished with a prison sentence from three months to one year.

Article 632 establishes that those who cruelly mistreat pets without constituting a crime under article 337 are subject to prison from 20 to 60 days or community service from 20 to 30 days. This legislation only protects companion animals and is not clear if it is able to extend to cause suffering for not acting.

At present, not all animals of animals are covered by the legislation against cruelty, although there are government representatives specifically responsible for the well -being of wildlife, work animals and animals in captivity. This exclusion of large amounts of protection animals represents a barrier to improve conditions in the country and is in contrast to many other countries of the European Union.

The continuous practice of bullfights in some parts of Spain is also an important concern in relation to the issue of cruelty towards animals and represents an important barrier in this area.