As of September 29, the new Animal Welfare Law, which has already seen the light in the Official State Gazette (BOE), opens a new stage in the management and care of pets in Spain.
Owners of domestic animals will have to comply by law with a series of obligations that improve their care and attention.
The legislation that will be released shortly requires new dog owners to take a course and have pet civil liability insurance. A policy that all dog owners must take out, regardless of the breed of the animal.
Article 34 of Law 7/2023, of March 28, on the protection of the rights and well-being of animals, highlights that only the possession of the following animals as pets will be permitted:
The Government now has a period of almost two years to approve a regulation specifying the wild animals that can also be part of this list, what they have called a positive list.
On the other hand, it is worth remembering that the prohibition on having some types of domestic animals or pets affects exclusively new owners and from the date of entry into force of the rule, that is, September 29.
Current owners of animals now included on the prohibited list will be able to continue enjoying them and will not be affected by the entry of the new law.
The legal text recalls the groups of animals that have been prohibited since the law came into force:
All of these groups mentioned above include hedgehogs, chameleons (they are protected wild animals), Vietnamese pigs or parrots (they are invasive species), among others.
According to the law, “people who have animals belonging to species that meet any of the established criteria will have the obligation to notify the competent authorities of the possession of these animals, within a period of six months from the entry into force of the law. this law”.
