On September 29, Law 7/2023 on the Protection of Animal Rights and Welfare came into force in Spain. Its main objective is to put an end to the abuse and abandonment of animals, as well as to regulate certain aspects regarding their ownership that guarantee their quality of life.
For this reason, not only are the penalties and sanctions for mistreating or abandoning an animal being toughened, but new developments are being introduced such as the obligation to take a training course before owning a dog, as well as having civil liability insurance. And also the prohibition of displaying and selling certain species in stores and the limitation of time that a pet can be left alone at home without supervision.
One of the most notable points of the new law is the one that focuses on the regulation of animal husbandry. With this legal text, only breeders registered in an official registry can raise litters and sell them, always meeting standards that guarantee optimal conditions for the animals.
Given that only duly registered breeders can now breed animals and taking into account that one of the objectives of the new Animal Welfare Law is to control the proliferation of unwanted litters – to avoid abandonment – ??it is mandatory that owners of domestic animals sterilize them.
This is stated in article 26 of the aforementioned Law, which includes the specific obligations with respect to companion animals. Owners or people who live with pets must “adopt the necessary measures to avoid the uncontrolled reproduction of pets. Breeding may only be carried out by persons responsible for the activity of breeding pets registered as such in the corresponding Registry.”
But pet owners are not the only ones affected by this rule, it also applies to public animal protection centers and RAC-type animal protection entities: “In the case of dogs, cats and ferrets, sterilize the animal beforehand.” to give them up for adoption or sign a sterilization commitment if they are not old enough to perform the surgery, according to veterinary criteria. They also have the obligation to sterilize animals of other species, whenever this is feasible according to veterinary criteria,” the Law cites in articles 23 and 44.
It should be noted that sterilizing pets provides benefits beyond reproductive control. It helps reduce the risk of the animal suffering from certain diseases such as breast, ovarian and uterine cancer in females, and testicular cancer or prostate disease in males. It is also related to improvements in your character and behavior.
