The law criminalising the ill-treatment and abandonment of companion animals in Portugal has contributed to a sharp increase in cases of neglect.
This mainly has been due to “a lack of information and awareness among owners,” according to the head of the nation’s association of vets.
Jorge Cid said there had been a lack of awareness and information about the law that came into force on October 1, 2014, even though it provides for prison sentences for those who "without legitimate cause, inflict pain, suffering or any other physical ill-treatment on a companion animal."
Cid says the new measures came into effect without giving people the necessary information and that this had counterproductive effects.
“We feel that there were actually cases of abandonment due a fear of the penalties," said the head of the Veterinary Medical Association.
The new law should have been accompanied by information for staff to explain the law’s implications to animal owners, not just what the penalties are.
Cid met up with the security forces and called for a bit of common sense and less aggression in enforcing the new law.
"Everyone is condemned for everything, especially on social media networks. Looking after an animal in an apartment in Lisbon is different to looking after a guard animal or a pack in a rural setting. All of them are animals - all have to be treated well, but this must be conditional on the environment. We must have good sense in law enforcement,” said the chief vet.
According to the data on animals collected at Official Collection Centres in 2016, there were 33,433 animals (25,765 dogs and 7,668 cats). This number is 3,241 higher than in 2015.
The State Budget for 2017 provides for an investment of just one €1 million for the construction and reconstruction of municipal kennels in the whole country.
"I do not see any investment, only occasional cases at municipalities that are concerned and have available funds. The law is made, but it won’t be fulfilled,” criticised the head vet, who warned of overcrowding and the inability to accommodate more animals.
Recognising the high level of debts at many councils and the costs associated with the construction and maintenance of facilities for stray and abandoned animals, the Veterinary Medical Association has proposed to municipalities that they form partnerships with veterinary clinics, "to ensure treatment is up to the required quality."
“There are only half a dozen councils in the country that have shown any interest in this proposal and we are already making agreements with them. The others failed to respond. This surprised me, because it seems to me that there is a lack of perception on the part of the mayors of the added value of this project.
"This is a way for municipalities to spend as little as possible per animal. It is expected that there will be fewer and fewer animals each year. It does not seem sensible that a lot of money is invested in an area that in the future will not have so much demand. This was a way of following the law without major investment," said Cid."
“This is cheaper for any council than building a structure of its own. But in this country things are not always done with common sense," concluded a man, chastened by his brush with Portuguese bureaucracy at a council level.
Comments
I feel sorry that you have to put up with this type of behaviour. You have options though, because what you are experiencing is "Noise pollution" you can go to the local council and make an official written complaint. Then you can record the noise of the dog barking over a 3 or 4 nights and go back to the council with your evidence.
There is a possibility that the dog has been abandoned in the house, but gets water and food and the only reason it is there is to guard the house. This in its self is animal cruelty and the council have an obligation to take this dog out of its misery and rescue it.
As Snr.Joao describes so many still tied to a short length of wire, going mental and dying young through neglect. Chips not connected to owners and dogs thrown out in neighbouring concelhos so untraceable. Also still totally missing is any comprehension of rehousing an animal with someone suitable. So many throw outs or hand me downs may end up with totally unsuitable new owners as the idea of checking the potential new owners domestic situation is too strong a reminder of all the 'snouts and spies' busy invading privacy in Salazar's time.
Our recent involvement with a municipal animal storage facility (they refused to call it a 'home or shelter' as it would then involve more stringent legislation) showed this clearly. It became too stressful to befriend a dog, work with it over weeks to get its confidence back then find it missing on our next visit. Just blank stares when we ask who the new owner is and can we keep in touch with the dog!
What about the suffering i have to endure especially during the stupid season when tourists invade my neighborhood and bring their dogs, both the tourists and those that work leave their pets at home alone while they go to work or the beach, about 15 dogs all barking all day, one of them barked from midnight till 4am, how do i know ? I went to council to complain, they just babbled rubbish, i went to GNR they said ''how can we tell the dog not to bark'' true story, i have a witness, or the ''guard'' dog, a beautiful little thing that would lick you to death and likes to be scratched on her neck, kept outside on a concrete slab less than 1 sq/mt with a tin shed for cover, it's never been out since the people moved in 3 years ago, the poor thing barks constantly day and night, no one cares, all these dogs bark because they are stressed, it breaks my heart, laws, what laws, they must waste a lot of ink writing these laws, for what.
That's the reason of "the big confusion about quasi everything" in this country and it explains why the country definitely needs its 6th army = the lawyers. Unfortunately not all lawyers are "active and alert people" and don't read or study all the laws. Of course the result is catastrophical as most of the lawyers "simply interpret the laws" as such putting their clients often in "big trouble" ! The last example is the case of the 2 Englishmen fighting for their villa on the islands... There are thousands of aberrant examples known as the result of such "unprofessional behaviour".