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The first year has passed since the approval of animal welfare law, Yet, six months into its implementation, it has barely been implemented as regulatory developments are still pending. Also, general elections were held and the dismissal of the previous controversial Animal Rights Secretary sergio garcia torresTo usher in the era of jose ramon becerra,
On the occasion of this anniversary, the President of Veterinary Collegiate OrganizationLuis Alberto Calvo commented digital freedom The aspects about animal law that concern him most include the shortage of municipal veterinarians.
Are animal welfare laws being followed?
Since its enactment, the government has changed, the Directorate General for Animal Rights that drafted the law has also changed and regulatory development is still pending. So right now it is in a state of impasse.
When will we know what the topic of courses and mandatory insurance for dog owners will be like?
The intention of the General Directive was to approve two royal decrees and three orders in the coming months, although ultimately it seems that they are going to include everything in one royal decree. We still do not know the terms of this regulation, but we are in contact with animal rights and last week we signed a cooperation agreement. In this sense, we have always reached out to this ministry and we hope that everything will be fine.
Does the government pay more attention to them now than before?
We have always stressed from the very first moment that this legislation is very important, but it must be logical and clearly based on science. Although there are many ways to understand animal welfare, we strongly emphasize that veterinarians are the ones who know it all on a professional level and that is why we wanted them to take us into account. It is true that at first they did not listen to us, but then, I don’t know whether they realized it or not, there was a break and we began to contact the previous general director (Sergio García Torres) as well. With the new (José Ramón Becerra).
What aspects of the law are you discussing with the General Directorate regarding its regulatory development?
One of them that we have highlighted and which is still pending regulation is the euthanasia of pets. The veterinarian is the one who has the skill and knowledge to determine whether euthanasia is appropriate. Leaving an animal without treatment because its disease may be curable, as the law says, is very difficult if one does not take into account the economic costs (Note: Animal welfare laws prohibit euthanasia of treatable pets for economic reasons, In that situation, the veterinarian may refuse to perform euthanasia because it would be illegal, but an animal cannot be condemned for not treating a serious recoverable deformity with which it will lose all quality of life. These things should be clarified very well so that the professional works with at least an awareness of what he can and cannot do.
Another issue that is of most concern to city councils is the obligation to have an emergency service available around the clock for the collection and veterinary care of lost and abandoned animals. Is it being completed?
We have to take into account that in Spain there are more than 8,000 municipalities and less than 300 municipal veterinarians. What are the municipalities going to do? Are they going to hire a veterinarian? Well, based on this law, we have to demand it and we have told the Federation of Municipalities. And a solution has to be found because a city council of 300 residents cannot be forced to seek the services of a veterinarian 24 hours a day because they will not be able to afford it.
The law gives city councils the option to sign cooperation agreements. It’s enough?
Yes, the problem we find in this country is that we have 8,000 municipalities and we also have 17 autonomous communities. Eleven are of one color and the rest are of another color. We will see what kind of cooperation there will be between each other. We don’t want animals or the most disadvantaged to ultimately have to pay the price. We should not allow this and we will report all irregularities that occur, but we must try to ensure that they do not occur.
Ultimately it’s a money problem…
Enacting such a law is complex, especially when no budget is made available for it. This is a complex issue that must be fully defined because we are talking about the health of these animals, which ultimately, we must not forget, is the foundation of human health. And, now that we have emerged from a pandemic, we must keep this in mind. But of course, we have found that, here in Spain, pet health is subject to a 21% VAT. I don’t know if it sounds like a luxury or not, but when we vaccinate a dog for rabies it is so that people do not get sick. This seems to us a comparative complaint and not a good prevention policy.
Considering that the law was passed with all these shortcomings and inaccuracies, do you think the government was hasty?
Clear – clear. The legislation had to be pushed through after four years of legislation, and it came out at the last minute to justify the budget of a secretariat that did not exist. That law was made, which is very good, but which can also have consequences, about which we have already warned and have been saying. It may be impossible to comply with current legislation. And if you want to demand it as it is, it will take years to establish itself. The ideal is to start well with educational information for the population, not secret information. Because animal activists say they love animals, but veterinarians are the ones who depend on the animals to survive. We sometimes have to ask the veterinarians and listen to them.
