The 2016 animal protection laws, which finally come into force this September, prohibit the widespread slaughter of cats and dogs as a means of control.Last year, 12,000 cats and dogs were killed at overloaded municipal kennels where many vets used the needle to reduce numbers. The new law stipulates new, strict criteria before an animal may be put down.
The People Animals Nature party launched a national survey on Council animal care provision and discovered that 23% of Portugal’s municipalities are still killing healthy cats and dogs and that there remain 31 municipalities that do not even have kennels.
The number of Councils that aim to flout the law, is high and the government’s two-year fight to encourage Councils to take the impending law seriously has had mixed results.
In 2016, the government gave Councils until September 2018 this year to adapt and expand their kennels, or to build kennel facilities if none existed. Grants have been made available and sterilisation costs can be supported by a State-run scheme.
Given the number of municipalities still without kennels, the Director General of Veterinary Affairs has admitted the possibility of the Government extending the deadline to facilitate slack Councils to continue to do nothing.
This deadline extension proposal has not gone down well with animal protection agencies, who argue that "there are more humane alternatives" than continuing to slaughter street animals – alternatives that the government has legislated for but lacks commitment from certain local Councils.
