Date Published: 20/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Malaga council works towards goal of not putting down any stray domestic animals
The city of Málaga (Andalusia) wants to achieve the target of ‘zero sacrifices’ and is working on awareness campaigns, with the view that the key to avoid putting down abandoned pets is to prevent them being abandoned (and even born) in the first place.
Just two animals; one dog and one cat, were put down at Málaga city’s municipal animal centre (Centro Zoosanitario Municipal) during the first quarter of this year, the council has announced. In both cases the animals would not have survived; the dog had kidney failure, and the cat had been run over.
The numbers of abandoned animals have improved significantly over the last ten years, the council says: Over the last three month period, 101 dogs and 65 cats were taken into the centre. In 2011 3,621 animals (2,304 dogs and 1,317 cats) were left at the centre or collected off the streets, and 1,982 of these animals (1,093 dogs and 889 cats) were put down due to a lack of space and lack of new homes.
New legislation relating to animal welfare in Spain charges the authorities with achieving a zero sacrifice target, and as part of their efforts awareness campaigns have been launched to try and reduce the numbers of strays, encourage neutering programmes both in domestic and feral animals, and increase the penalties for the maltreatment of animals, all of which is now combining to create a positive effect.
By 2020, the number of animals being euthanised had fallen by 89 per cent, with 78 dogs and 139 cats put to sleep during the year.
That, the Environmental Sustainability councillor explained, means that the city is well on the way to keeping its zero-sacrifice promise.
The results, she stressed, were mostly due to the reduction in the number of animals that arrived at the centre, increased public awareness, and the tireless work of animal protection societies collaborating at all levels.
Another area in which improvement can be seen is that of adoptions. Twenty-seven per cent of the animals the centre took in last year were adopted, compared to just 16 per cent in 2011.
Despite the promising results, the authorities are fully aware of the need to continue working to fulfil their commitments relating to animal welfare and continue to work with animal protection societies to raise awareness of animal welfare issues.
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