Although the welfare law animal This Sunday marks its first year in force, the mandatory course on possession of dogsinsurance and other aspects regulations are still pending and will be developed with a royal decree that the Government It continues to be outlined, although due to deadlines it will not be operational until 2025.
The Law on the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Animals, which came into force in general on September 29, 2023, was processed in parallel, although separately, along with an added rule that has reformed the criminal code on animal abuse to punish with harsher penalties to the offenders.
Spain is a country of traditions where many families live with pets; in fact, one in three households it does, mostly dogs and catsand in addition more than thirteen million pets are registered in registries, according to the data handled by experts.
For the regulatory process of the pending aspects of the animal welfare law, the Government presented to the autonomous communities in mid-July a draft of the royal decree for said regulation and that will develop 25 articles of said standard. This regulatory development was pending to be carried out in the previous legislature since the early electoral period prevented time to do so.
Public exhibition of the draft of the royal decree
In these moments “the contributions of the autonomous communities are still being studied” whose deadline to submit proposals expired in the middle of this month; The next step will be to submit the text “to the public exhibition process”, sources from the Ministry of Social Rights have reported. “The rest of the regulatory processing will follow, with requests for reports from the rest of the ministries and other administrative bodies,” according to the same sources.
Therefore, there is no deadline for its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE); “In any case it will be during the year 2025,” they have assured. For their part, entities such as the Veterinary College Organization (OCV) have said that are “awaiting publication” in the BOE of the regulatory development of the aspects pending regulation in the new law. “The relationship It is more fluid than with the previous general one, because the technical and scientific criteria of the veterinarians are listened to,” added sources from the OCV, which represents 36,000 veterinarians in Spain.
Veterinarians’ proposals
“Allegations have been made to specify aspects such as the euthanasiawhich was very controversial, in order for the veterinarian’s clinical diagnosis to be decisive based on the quality of life of the animal, possibilities of recovery, etc. “There have been contacts with the General Directorate of Animal Rights to “launch a qualifying course for veterinary experts“According to the law, they would be available to the courts in cases of animal abuse. “There are already colleagues dedicated to this function but more specifically trained professionals are needed. The matter is progressing,” according to the OCV.
Dog course and liability insurance
According to the animal welfare lawpeople with dogs must accredit a course training for the possession of specimens. Its validity will be indefinite, it will be free and its content will be determined by regulation.
Furthermore, throughout the life of the animal, regardless of the breed, the person responsible must hire and maintain civil liability insurance for damages to third parties in force; The amount to cover possible expenses derived from them will also be established by regulation.
Among the Government’s proposals to the autonomous communities in the draft of the royal decree of regulatory development, it is proposed that the dog ownership course is not required of current owners, but of new owners six months after its publication in the BOE. . According to the draft of the royal decree, said training course would have to be certified by an authority competent and neither veterinarians nor animal behavior professionals would have to do it.
On the other hand, the person responsible for the animal will have to contract and maintain in force civil liability insurance for damages to third parties, valid throughout the life of the animal, of an amount of 100,000 euros; Home insurance that includes this casuistry would also be valid.
The text of the draft asks public administrations to provisionally take charge of any pet confined in an open enclosure or farm in a situation of risk. for not having been attended their basic needs by the owner or responsible person.
Likewise, centralized records are proposed for breeders, zoological centers and animal protection entities, with the proposal that all these figures be managed by the autonomous communitiesto fight against professional intrusion. Regarding cats, the royal decree proposes regulating the protection of feline colonies by local entities, and that a veterinarian approves the new destination to which they have to be moved.
