The arrival of summer usually brings an increase in the number of pet abandonments each year, but what is happening this year has alarmed the animal protectors of the Region of Murcia. They warn of a “brutal” rise in collections and label as “terrible” a situation that has exceeded their forecasts and in many cases puts the capacity of their facilities to the limit.
The latest report from the Affinity Foundation on the abandonment and adoption of dogs and cats in Spain ‘He would never do it’ notes an increase in abandonment in 2022, and an upward trend after the pandemic. The study, which uses data from a selection of protectors across the country, some of them in the Region, estimates that abandonment has risen by 1.3% in the last year. However, the increase in collections in the Community seems to have been significantly more intense.
DOGS AND G.TOyouOS COLLECTED BY PREITHERTEAC.youEITHERR.TOS
Source: Affinity. Study ‘He would never 2023’.
DOGS AND G.TOyouOS COLLECTED BY PREITHERTEAC.youEITHERR.TOS
Source: Affinity. Study ‘He would never 2023’.
DOGS AND G.TOyouOS COLLECTED BY PREITHERTEAC.youEITHERR.TOS
Source: Affinity. Study ‘He would never 2023’.
The Murcia Animal Protection and Zoonoses Control service estimates that in 2022 it had “almost 50% more” pet collections compared to the previous year, with 758 dogs and 229 cats. The head of this service, Pedro Javier Jiménez, also warns that what they have been able to see from 2023 does not look better. “I am sure that we are going to exceed those figures this year, because in the month of March we had already exceeded those of all of 2021.” And his feeling is widely shared by the protectors.
The Spanish National Association for Animal Protection and Rehabilitation (Anerpa), which manages the Alguazas municipal animal shelter, has also seen how “abandonments have skyrocketed exponentially in recent months.” “The month of May was terrible and June remained just as terrible,” warns its president, Javier Rodellar.
Anerpa, which cared for 185 animals in the municipality in 2021, recorded 40 abandonments only last May, more than one per day, “an outrage for such a small census,” he warns.
The situation has reached such a point in the ‘Dog Rescue’ association of Calasparra, that its president, Ana Guirao, claims to cry “every day”. «Out of despair, because we have seen a huge increase in abandonments so far this year and adoptions have slowed down. We are overwhelmed », she assures. «We have two dogs in the protector’s bathroom and she had to take four puppies home for lack of space. And my partner has as many in hers », she laments.
Ana Rama, founder and president of the Cuatro Gatos de Cartagena Association, dedicated to cats, in turn notes the drastic increase in abandonments in the feral colonies that she manages in the municipality of the port city: «This year is being brutal. But brutal, “she says.
unwanted litters
One of the conclusions of the Affinity Foundation is that in recent years there has been a significant growth in the percentage of abandoned cats. In 2007, 24% of the animals collected by the shelters were cats, in 2014 the percentage rose to 28.5% and in 2022, 41%. In addition, almost half of the cats that arrive at shelters, 48%, are puppies from unwanted litters, and more than half of the total are sick or injured. “It is one of the fundamental problems,” explains the head of the Murcia Zoonosis service. “That is why the sterilization that the new animal welfare law will force – which comes into force at the end of September – is so important, because cat owners usually allow them to roam the street much more than dogs.” “The vast majority of the cats we found are less than a month old,” says Rodellar, from Anerpa. On many occasions, they even come to us with the umbilical cord hanging, and without having given the mother time or to wash them.
The president of Cuatro Gatos suspects that, in many cases, economic reasons are hidden behind the rise in dropouts. «We must remember that animal health is taxed at 21% VAT, as if it were a luxury item, and when there is a moment of crisis or, as is the case now, when someone is heartless, the first thing that is left over it is the animal”, he emphasizes. Although also to its inclusion in various regional laws and municipal ordinances: “With cats, it is not that much more is abandoned, it is that they now exist,” she emphasizes. Pedro Javier Jiménez also believes that the crisis may have had an impact on the greater abandonment of pets. “I think it may be one of the most important factors. There are people who can hardly support themselves and prefer to give up the dog. The other factor that he points to is the fear of the obligations imposed by the new law, which establishes the need to take a course to have dogs and to have insurance.
The animal welfare law enters into force on September 29
“This year we have had more dropouts, and I think they will rise even more between now and September,” says Mari Carmen Aguilar, a worker at the Anguimar company, which manages the animal collection and control service for eight municipalities in the Region – Lorca, Torre Pacheco, Alhama, Los Alcázares, Caravaca, Fortuna, Fuente Álamo and Puerto Lumbreras-. Aguilar attributes the situation to the coming into force on September 29 of the new animal welfare law that establishes greater demands on pet owners, and that toughens the penalties for abandonment and mistreatment. Ana Guirao, from ‘Dog Rescue’ agrees: «I think that the rise in abandonments that we are seeing is due to this, people get rid of the animal in case they have a problem. We notice that adoptions have even stopped.”
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