No more 'dangerous breeds' list: Animal protection law overhaul will 'end canine racial discrimination'
08/04/2021
A LAW dating back 22 years requiring owners of certain dog breeds to register them with the council, pay a tax and keep them muzzled and on a lead could be about to change now that Spain's government is considering a review of the 'dangerous' label.
Director-General of Animal Rights, Sergio García Torres, spoke at the political conference organised by the Spanish Royal Canine Society, and advocated the 'dangerous breeds' criteria be assessed on a 'dog-by-dog' basis.
Most people who have any contact with animals have met pitbulls, Rottweilers, Dobermanns or other, similarly-categorised dogs who are complete 'softies' and would not harm a fly, whilst some dogs who have shown aggressive behaviour may be of breeds not on the 'compulsory registration' list.
García Torres and the Royal Canine Society are concerned that the 'potentially dangerous' list creates prejudice against entire breeds which may not be at all justified in a high number of individual cases.
To this end, a law reform under way is seeking to 'validate the behaviour' of specific animals 'without taking into account the given breed they were born into'.
Replacing Law number 50/1999, the legislation will cover dogs whose character means they need 'special handling' or 'expert management', and require them to be trained in behaviour improvement techniques to prevent, or stop, them being 'dangerous'.
Unlike in other countries, Spanish legislation does not automatically require a dog who attacks a human to be put to sleep – in fact, this is avoided as far as possible and would only happen where the animal was a serial public danger and too 'far gone' for even canine behavioural experts to retrain them to be safe.
García Torres says he wants national law to work towards an end to pets being dumped and for zero animal euthanasia except on purely humane grounds, where the creature is actively and incurably suffering and no remedies are available in life – much along the same grounds as the newly-approved euthanasia law for humans.
The Royal Canine Society (RSCE) has called for legislation that makes dog identification universal, protects and promotes native breeds, accredits the work of 'ethical and responsible breeders', and actively educates children and young people in 'values that encourage respect and empathy for animals'.
García Torres says the law being prepared by Spain's government – the draft of which is at the 'public information' stage, meaning it can be consulted by society and is open to appeals – focuses on streamlining the 17 different regional government laws, none of which are exactly the same, and on setting up an 'Animal Protection Registration System' (SRPA).
“You'd need to be an expert in regional and local government law to be able to keep tabs on animal welfare rules,” García Torres admits.
The planned SRPA will cover a blanket identification system, with details of domestic animals on one single national database that can be consulted in real time for any pet in the country, as well as 'guarantees' of 'professional standards' in animal-based businesses, in rescuing neglected, dumped or ill-treated animals, and also covering pet shelters.
A National Register of Professionals will be set up for dog trainers to sign up to, and which owners can consult to find a legitimate behavioural expert near them.
Another list, a National Pet Breeders' Register, will include amateurs as well as professionals, but only those named on it will be allowed to breed, other than for purely personal reasons.
More lists are involved, such as the National Register of Zoological Nuclei for Pets – a 'Zoological Nucleus' being the official term for any complex or centre for animals, from equestrian centres to shelters to boarding kennels, which are subject to licences and inspections – and which will codify all 17 regional laws covering these premises.
One of the new criteria for breeders will be for all pets or other domestic animals being bred for purchase to be logged on the identity register within the first three months of their lives and before they are sold.
A separate 'offenders' register' will be created, to block names of people or organisations convicted of ill-treatment or neglect and prevent their being able to own any animals.
It is not clear how effective this might be, since a person blocked on the database may still attempt to register a pet in another name, or simply opt not to register the animal at all and may or may not 'get caught'.
The new law seeks to amend Spain's Civil Code so that animals are recognised as 'sentient beings', or creatures with 'feelings', rather than 'objects', in line with the Lisbon Treaty, meaning they are protected from cruelty and cannot be embargoed as 'assets' in payment of the owners' debts.
Spain already does recognise this, but it is not enshrined in permanent law.
Another issue García Torres wants to tackle is an amendment to the Penal Code to provide for much stiffer punishment for animal abuse and neglect.
“Current sentences are a bit too lax,” he admits.
“At the moment, the maximum jail term is 18 months.”
In Spain, unless the offender has a previous custodial conviction, a prison sentence of less than two years does not have to be served, meaning in practice, almost nobody ends up behind bars for ill-treatment of animals.
The new animal legislation will also try to encourage adoption as much as possible, since many shelters are full to bursting with abandoned or rescued pets who are crying out for new, loving homes.
An overhaul of 'assistance animals' and their and their owners' rights is set to be put in place – it is already a legal requirement for guide dogs for the blind and partially-sighted to be permitted entry into anywhere humans are allowed, such as shops, given that denying entry to a guide dog effectively means banning the owner from going in, which is automatically considered to be a case of discrimination on the grounds of disability.
But dogs provide assistance in many other ways – 'diabetic dogs', dogs trained for accompanying the severely-autistic, epilepsy sufferers, and, more recently, specially-trained animals for victims of serial domestic or gender violence.
Here, the dogs are trained to warn their victims – statistically, mostly women – of the presence of their assailant, and to defend her if she is under physical attack.
Many victims whose abusers are not in jail, or may be due for release after serving their sentences, say they are too frightened to leave their homes without their assistance dogs – one of these is Estefanía, who has set up a petition on Change.org calling for shops in her home city of Vigo to stop banning her from bringing her dog Noah in with her.
All parties coincide on need for new laws
The RSCE conference was attended by representatives of each of Spain's main political parties – left-wing Unidas Podemos and centre-left socialists (PSOE), who are in coalition in national government, centre-right Ciudadanos, right-wing PP and far-right Vox – and all of them agreed a law reform was needed to ensure animals get the care, treatment and respect they deserve.
MP for the PSOE Sandra Guaita says the different regional laws need to be codified into one national hymn sheet that 'reflects the growing human sensitivity towards our animals', and in particular, tighten up on cases of abuse, illegal sales, unlawful breeding for sale, and for pets to be traceable 'from birth to death'.
She says Spanish society has 'come a very long way in the last 10 years', but more needs to be done to prevent the approximately 150,000 to 200,000 cases of pets being dumped every year.
Regional law divergences include the availability of pet shelters – in some, every single town is required to have one, and in others, such as Catalunya, these must be adequately funded by local authorities so that not one single animal brought to them is ever turned away.
Some regions ban shelters from putting animals to sleep unless they are actively and incurably suffering with no available remedy, meaning no animal can be euthanised purely because the shelter is 'full'.
Many local councils across the country have systems in place to guarantee the health and wellbeing of their feral cat colonies, including trap-neuter-return programmes to prevent uncontrolled breeding, accredited volunteer feeders, and funding for food, worming medication and vaccinations.
In all regions, harming feral cats in any way is a criminal offence, since they are classed as 'domestic pets', even though they have no owners.
Unidas Podemos MP Juan López de Uralde says he is keen to see the Civil and Penal Codes amended so that animal ill-treatment is properly punished, and for an 'umbrella animal protection law' to 'unify' the legal situation nationwide.
He wants to see society educated in empathy and proper care for animals, for adoption to be encouraged, and to promote a general attitude of kindness for other species.
This education should include myth-busting, such as eradicating the still-prevalent old wives' tales about how sterilising cats and dogs is 'dangerous', 'causes infections', 'makes them fat and lazy', and that 'all female dogs and cats should have at least one litter' for the benefit of their health.
Milagros Marcos, MP for the PP, said 'consistency and common sense' was needed in creating uniform rules for all regions, developed through 'dialogue, consensus, and respect for what already works well' whilst also focusing on what is 'actually possible'.
“Regulating for the sake of it, idealistic criteria that can never be met, will never be understood and will never work in practice,” she said, although did not give any examples.
She called for 'enough permanent and constant funding' to ensure the new laws could be adhered to, and for the World Health Organisation's (WHO)'s 'One Health' focus to be followed – a system which treats human, animal and environmental care and safety as part of the same necessity – as well as urging everyone not to fall into the trap of anthropomorphism.
“Let's try to avoid misinterpreted animalism, since this generates results exactly the opposite of those we want – we need to respect animals for what they are, not try to 'make them human' for our own sakes,” she says.
Ciudadanos' MP Ana Rodríguez called for the ban on animals being embargoed as 'assets' to be set in stone nationwide, and agreed on the need for a blanket national approach.
Vox MP Magdalena Nevado's views were in line with the general opinion – she said her party is 'pro-life in all its guises, including the life of animals', and that she fully supported the idea of a central identity database, changes in the Civil and Penal Code, tougher sentences for cruelty, and 'pursing the aim of zero neglect and dumping'.
She stressed she was 'completely in agreement' with amending the law on 'potentially dangerous breeds' of dogs, because existing legislation and its requirements 'unfairly criminalises animals purely on the basis of their species'.
Related Topics
A LAW dating back 22 years requiring owners of certain dog breeds to register them with the council, pay a tax and keep them muzzled and on a lead could be about to change now that Spain's government is considering a review of the 'dangerous' label.
Director-General of Animal Rights, Sergio García Torres, spoke at the political conference organised by the Spanish Royal Canine Society, and advocated the 'dangerous breeds' criteria be assessed on a 'dog-by-dog' basis.
Most people who have any contact with animals have met pitbulls, Rottweilers, Dobermanns or other, similarly-categorised dogs who are complete 'softies' and would not harm a fly, whilst some dogs who have shown aggressive behaviour may be of breeds not on the 'compulsory registration' list.
García Torres and the Royal Canine Society are concerned that the 'potentially dangerous' list creates prejudice against entire breeds which may not be at all justified in a high number of individual cases.
To this end, a law reform under way is seeking to 'validate the behaviour' of specific animals 'without taking into account the given breed they were born into'.
Replacing Law number 50/1999, the legislation will cover dogs whose character means they need 'special handling' or 'expert management', and require them to be trained in behaviour improvement techniques to prevent, or stop, them being 'dangerous'.
Unlike in other countries, Spanish legislation does not automatically require a dog who attacks a human to be put to sleep – in fact, this is avoided as far as possible and would only happen where the animal was a serial public danger and too 'far gone' for even canine behavioural experts to retrain them to be safe.
García Torres says he wants national law to work towards an end to pets being dumped and for zero animal euthanasia except on purely humane grounds, where the creature is actively and incurably suffering and no remedies are available in life – much along the same grounds as the newly-approved euthanasia law for humans.
The Royal Canine Society (RSCE) has called for legislation that makes dog identification universal, protects and promotes native breeds, accredits the work of 'ethical and responsible breeders', and actively educates children and young people in 'values that encourage respect and empathy for animals'.
García Torres says the law being prepared by Spain's government – the draft of which is at the 'public information' stage, meaning it can be consulted by society and is open to appeals – focuses on streamlining the 17 different regional government laws, none of which are exactly the same, and on setting up an 'Animal Protection Registration System' (SRPA).
“You'd need to be an expert in regional and local government law to be able to keep tabs on animal welfare rules,” García Torres admits.
The planned SRPA will cover a blanket identification system, with details of domestic animals on one single national database that can be consulted in real time for any pet in the country, as well as 'guarantees' of 'professional standards' in animal-based businesses, in rescuing neglected, dumped or ill-treated animals, and also covering pet shelters.
A National Register of Professionals will be set up for dog trainers to sign up to, and which owners can consult to find a legitimate behavioural expert near them.
Another list, a National Pet Breeders' Register, will include amateurs as well as professionals, but only those named on it will be allowed to breed, other than for purely personal reasons.
More lists are involved, such as the National Register of Zoological Nuclei for Pets – a 'Zoological Nucleus' being the official term for any complex or centre for animals, from equestrian centres to shelters to boarding kennels, which are subject to licences and inspections – and which will codify all 17 regional laws covering these premises.
One of the new criteria for breeders will be for all pets or other domestic animals being bred for purchase to be logged on the identity register within the first three months of their lives and before they are sold.
A separate 'offenders' register' will be created, to block names of people or organisations convicted of ill-treatment or neglect and prevent their being able to own any animals.
It is not clear how effective this might be, since a person blocked on the database may still attempt to register a pet in another name, or simply opt not to register the animal at all and may or may not 'get caught'.
The new law seeks to amend Spain's Civil Code so that animals are recognised as 'sentient beings', or creatures with 'feelings', rather than 'objects', in line with the Lisbon Treaty, meaning they are protected from cruelty and cannot be embargoed as 'assets' in payment of the owners' debts.
Spain already does recognise this, but it is not enshrined in permanent law.
Another issue García Torres wants to tackle is an amendment to the Penal Code to provide for much stiffer punishment for animal abuse and neglect.
“Current sentences are a bit too lax,” he admits.
“At the moment, the maximum jail term is 18 months.”
In Spain, unless the offender has a previous custodial conviction, a prison sentence of less than two years does not have to be served, meaning in practice, almost nobody ends up behind bars for ill-treatment of animals.
The new animal legislation will also try to encourage adoption as much as possible, since many shelters are full to bursting with abandoned or rescued pets who are crying out for new, loving homes.
An overhaul of 'assistance animals' and their and their owners' rights is set to be put in place – it is already a legal requirement for guide dogs for the blind and partially-sighted to be permitted entry into anywhere humans are allowed, such as shops, given that denying entry to a guide dog effectively means banning the owner from going in, which is automatically considered to be a case of discrimination on the grounds of disability.
But dogs provide assistance in many other ways – 'diabetic dogs', dogs trained for accompanying the severely-autistic, epilepsy sufferers, and, more recently, specially-trained animals for victims of serial domestic or gender violence.
Here, the dogs are trained to warn their victims – statistically, mostly women – of the presence of their assailant, and to defend her if she is under physical attack.
Many victims whose abusers are not in jail, or may be due for release after serving their sentences, say they are too frightened to leave their homes without their assistance dogs – one of these is Estefanía, who has set up a petition on Change.org calling for shops in her home city of Vigo to stop banning her from bringing her dog Noah in with her.
All parties coincide on need for new laws
The RSCE conference was attended by representatives of each of Spain's main political parties – left-wing Unidas Podemos and centre-left socialists (PSOE), who are in coalition in national government, centre-right Ciudadanos, right-wing PP and far-right Vox – and all of them agreed a law reform was needed to ensure animals get the care, treatment and respect they deserve.
MP for the PSOE Sandra Guaita says the different regional laws need to be codified into one national hymn sheet that 'reflects the growing human sensitivity towards our animals', and in particular, tighten up on cases of abuse, illegal sales, unlawful breeding for sale, and for pets to be traceable 'from birth to death'.
She says Spanish society has 'come a very long way in the last 10 years', but more needs to be done to prevent the approximately 150,000 to 200,000 cases of pets being dumped every year.
Regional law divergences include the availability of pet shelters – in some, every single town is required to have one, and in others, such as Catalunya, these must be adequately funded by local authorities so that not one single animal brought to them is ever turned away.
Some regions ban shelters from putting animals to sleep unless they are actively and incurably suffering with no available remedy, meaning no animal can be euthanised purely because the shelter is 'full'.
Many local councils across the country have systems in place to guarantee the health and wellbeing of their feral cat colonies, including trap-neuter-return programmes to prevent uncontrolled breeding, accredited volunteer feeders, and funding for food, worming medication and vaccinations.
In all regions, harming feral cats in any way is a criminal offence, since they are classed as 'domestic pets', even though they have no owners.
Unidas Podemos MP Juan López de Uralde says he is keen to see the Civil and Penal Codes amended so that animal ill-treatment is properly punished, and for an 'umbrella animal protection law' to 'unify' the legal situation nationwide.
He wants to see society educated in empathy and proper care for animals, for adoption to be encouraged, and to promote a general attitude of kindness for other species.
This education should include myth-busting, such as eradicating the still-prevalent old wives' tales about how sterilising cats and dogs is 'dangerous', 'causes infections', 'makes them fat and lazy', and that 'all female dogs and cats should have at least one litter' for the benefit of their health.
Milagros Marcos, MP for the PP, said 'consistency and common sense' was needed in creating uniform rules for all regions, developed through 'dialogue, consensus, and respect for what already works well' whilst also focusing on what is 'actually possible'.
“Regulating for the sake of it, idealistic criteria that can never be met, will never be understood and will never work in practice,” she said, although did not give any examples.
She called for 'enough permanent and constant funding' to ensure the new laws could be adhered to, and for the World Health Organisation's (WHO)'s 'One Health' focus to be followed – a system which treats human, animal and environmental care and safety as part of the same necessity – as well as urging everyone not to fall into the trap of anthropomorphism.
“Let's try to avoid misinterpreted animalism, since this generates results exactly the opposite of those we want – we need to respect animals for what they are, not try to 'make them human' for our own sakes,” she says.
Ciudadanos' MP Ana Rodríguez called for the ban on animals being embargoed as 'assets' to be set in stone nationwide, and agreed on the need for a blanket national approach.
Vox MP Magdalena Nevado's views were in line with the general opinion – she said her party is 'pro-life in all its guises, including the life of animals', and that she fully supported the idea of a central identity database, changes in the Civil and Penal Code, tougher sentences for cruelty, and 'pursing the aim of zero neglect and dumping'.
She stressed she was 'completely in agreement' with amending the law on 'potentially dangerous breeds' of dogs, because existing legislation and its requirements 'unfairly criminalises animals purely on the basis of their species'.