Spain Tightens Penalties for Animal Cruelty
Spain is tightening penalties for animal cruelty and the killing of animals. Prison sentences of up to 24 months and bans on keeping animals are planned.
In addition to passing the animal welfare law, the government will also adopt an amendment to the penal code to tighten penalties for animal abuse.
Changes are also being made with regard to the killing of animals in shelters and rescue centres. Until now, only Catalonia and Madrid prohibited the euthanasia of dogs, cats and other pets for reasons of space. The new law is set to extend this prohibition across Spain. The only exception that will remain permitted is killing for medical reasons, as the Mallorca Zeitung reports.
This is the first regulation to be adopted at a national level in Spain in this regard, as autonomous regional laws already existed.
Cases of abuse resulting in death could in future carry prison sentences of up to two years. This is intended to improve animal welfare and impose harsher penalties on those who mistreat animals.
The new regulation also criminalises other forms of animal cruelty, such as the use of electric shock or spiked collars. It will also be prohibited to tie a dog to a moving vehicle. The draft law furthermore stipulates that a pet may not be left alone for three consecutive days ; for dogs, this period must not exceed 24 hours.
According to animal welfare organisations, Spain is among the countries with the highest number of abused and abandoned animals . It is estimated that an animal is abandoned every two minutes . Officially, 13 million pets are registered. The actual number is likely to be significantly higher.
Furthermore, the sale of animals in pet shops as well as their display and exhibition in public for commercial purposes will be banned, while zoos and dolphinariums are to be converted into centres for the rehabilitation of native species.
The use of wild animals in circus performances is also prohibited, as is the use of animals in Three Kings parades, living nativity plays, processions, and pilgrimages. The regulation will also put an end to mink farming, as the sanctions ordinance accompanying the draft law provides for fines of 30,001 to 100,000 euros for breeding minks for their fur.
Bullfighting is exempt from the law as are livestock and animals used for research purposes.
