The norm approved in Congress will go down in history as one of the ones that has suffered the most changes during its processing.
The animal welfare law and the reform to toughen the penalties for mistreatment, which were definitively approved this Thursday in Congress, will go down in history as one of the legislative packages that most changes have suffered throughout their processing. The best known has to do with the decision of the PSOE to present a amendmentjust one month after the rule was approved by the Government, so that the protection is not applicable to hunting dogs. But since the initial draft both standards have suffered so much losses that have caused the animalists to have gone from the initial applause to the rejectionor support but making it clear that the legislation could have been more ambitious.
The Animalist Party (Pacma) and some fifty other entities have even gone so far as to claim that the regulations were not approved. “They will bring a delay several decades”, they point out. Other organizations, on the other hand, are more “realistic” and point out that the law contains all the “advances” that have been made in Spain today. This is a summary of the main aspects that have deflated both norms and have frustrated the expectations of the animalists.
Hunting and sheepdogs
The socialist amendment, which has been described as the “shame amendment”, means that the law will not apply to hunting dogs, but neither to employees in professional activities (police, rescue, etc.), in livestock (shepherd dogs) or falconry. From the beginning, the law left out bulls or experimental or production animals, because the latter are governed by specific regulations, and therefore focuses on the pets or other animals in the urban environment. Your goal is to have abuse, sacrifice and zero abandonment. And the threats from Podemos and other parties that they would drop the rule if the Socialists did not agree to withdraw or modify their amendment have been useless. The law has been approved without changes in this regard.
The bill approved by the Council of Ministers prohibited the american mink farms, but this precept disappeared when the Government studied the project in the second round, which will allow it to survive the more than 30 fur farms What is in Spain? The changes introduced by the PSOE both from the Executive branch and through amendments in the Cortes respond, according to Aïda Gascón, director of AnimaNaturalisbecause it is a “conservative party” in terms of animal protection and has given in to the “pressures” from the hunting industry, pet shops, mink farms and others.
Fines instead of prison
One of the areas that has provoked the most rejection is the reform of the Penal Code, given that the possibility of a fine instead of imprisonment has been introduced “if the animal is caused injuries that require veterinary treatment or death to a vertebrate that does not live under the control of the human being”, according to María González Lacabex, a member of INTERcids. This entity, which brings together legal practitioners who are experts in animal protection, considers that the legal reform places to Spain “years ago in response to mistreatment”, for this reason he asked the Government to withdraw.
Various partners of the Government have also criticized that “the abusers are going to get off scot-free by paying a fine”, although for Ione Belarrathe driving minister, the reform will serve to “begin to end impunity.”
The new wording in the reform of the Penal Code that refers to the bestiality. Vox and other sectors have indicated that the change promoted by the Government “decriminalizes zoophilia”, but having sex with animals, strange as it may seem, is not criminally punished. The reform, yes, modifies article 337 that punishes the “sexual exploitation” of animals, which some judges associate with profit, and replaces it with “sexual acts with animals.” However, INTERcids denounces that to be punished it will be required to cause injuries -requiring treatment- animals, something difficult to demonstrate on many occasions.
Dangerous dogs follow
The law intended to repeal the list of dangerous dogs based on their breed -pit bull terrier, rottweiler, dogo argentino, etc.- and establish a “positive list of pets” that would determine which ones can be included in it taking into account various criteria, such as health; sociability and security of people. This claim has fallen, but the intention of the Ministry of Social Rights is to recover it via regulation. Until then, the current restrictions for potentially dangerous dogs remain in effect.
The initial bill prohibited shows with dolphins and other cetaceans. However, they will eventually be allowed to continue even though “they go against animal welfare and are inappropriate”, according to Anna Mulà, a lawyer for the Franz Weber Foundation. In his opinion, the persistence of these shows has been disguised “as a use for research or conservation, but in reality it responds to the lobby pressures of zoos given that Spain is one of the countries with the most cetaceans in captivity”.
Another of the losses that has upset animal rights is that it is not prohibited to circuses with all kinds of animals, as it appeared in the initial draft. Finally they will be prevented with wild animals like tigers or elephantsbut they will still be able to participate horses or pets. According to Mulà, “there are communities that have already prohibited circus shows with all kinds of animals and if the state law tried to harmonize all the legislation around the highest standards, there has been an inconsistency”.