Overhumanization of pets can affect their well-being

Madrid.- The excessive humanization of pets in a society that treats them as family members can lead to a tendency “to forget their natural needs and behaviors” and lead to practices that harm their physical and psychological Do not respect welfare”. “They are animals after all.

Andrea Milla, spokesperson for the French platform ‘Lend Me Your Dog’, warned EFE, which already has 70,000 users in Spain and “facilitates a shared care system between owners who need help with their dog There are people in need and people who want to meet the dogs.” ”, so that a person without a pet can “experience the responsibility of owning a pet” before working full-time.

In this way, volunteers can learn firsthand how to properly treat an animal, before one who is often mistaken for an object is taken away for “impulsive adoption”, when ” A dog is a living being with needs and feelings, not an object that can be given as a gift.”

pet abandonment

This impulse is translated at the beginning of the year, even on a date like this Wednesday when the day of San Anton – patron saint of animals – is celebrated, in the abandonment of pets that were given as gifts at Christmas. More than 288,000 dogs and cats were collected by shelters in Spain in 2022, according to the latest study by the Affinity Foundation.

Eva Ortin, head of marketing and communications at pet health insurer Santevet, told EFE that the availability of animal care is one of the reasons for abandonment, but it also has an economic cost.

Although there are officially 31 million pets in Spain, Ortín recalled that “the percentage of animals with insurance is still very low”, so the person who wants to adopt one should take into account the need to invest in this sense. should keep.

Furthermore, it is necessary to collect information on all aspects related to their care and health, not only shelter or food, but also “their daily routine or specific needs such as illnesses.”

In this sense, Mila has stated that “promoting public health insurance for pets would be beneficial and would make veterinary expenses easier for owners, promoting responsibility in pet care,” which is why she Has defended the creation of a government program “to make these services more accessible.”

animal welfare law

Regarding how the application of the new animal welfare law is affecting, he considered it to be “an important step towards their protection”, although Spanish society has “achieved important progress with respect to animals, yet We face huge challenges.”

Ortin also highlights this new regulation as “an advance” and, although “the biggest objective of the law is to fight against animal abuse and abandonment”, it has generated other benefits such as “for example the range The disappearance of the “potentially dangerous” dog that harmed some dog breeds. EFEverde