EU Plans Enhanced Protection for Dogs and Cats: New Policies to Safeguard Pets

The European Union is making a strong move to enhance the welfare of domestic pets, particularly dogs and cats. With an overwhelming majority, the EU Parliament has endorsed stricter regulations that aim to address various welfare concerns. This includes the prohibition of mutilation, breeding for detrimental traits, and illegal trade practices.

The new set of rules, initially proposed by the EU Commission in 2023, received support from nearly 450 of the 750 members in the EU Parliament. Now, it’s up to the European Council to finalize the details of these regulations.

Presently, the EU lacks uniform minimum standards for breeding pets, a gap these new regulations seek to fill. Prohibited practices will now include the cropping of ears or docking of tails unless medically necessary and performed under anesthesia. The guidelines also extend to banning harsh training and restraining methods, such as the use of electric collars, with exceptions allowed only for military, police, and customs dogs.

Moreover, the breeding of animals with physical traits that can cause suffering, like overly flat faces or excessively short limbs, will be forbidden. Such animals will also be excluded from competitions and animal shows. The practice of inbreeding will see a ban as well.

Under the proposed rules, pet owners will face stricter controls. They will be required to microchip their pets, embedding details such as the animal’s age, sex, and origin. This information will be stored in a centralized database managed by the EU.

The phased implementation of this rule envisions that all dogs in the EU will be chipped within five years following the enactment of the law, with cats to follow in the next five years. The practicality of applying this rule to stray animals remains unclear.

This microchipping initiative is also intended to curb the illegal pet trade. Pets imported from non-EU countries for sale will need to be microchipped and registered in the database. Pet owners entering the EU with their pets must register them online at least five days prior to their arrival.

Statistics indicate that about 44 percent of EU citizens own a pet, with a significant number of these transactions occurring online. Veronika Vrecionová, a member of the EU Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, highlighted that these new regulations represent a decisive step towards combating illegal breeding and enhancing the welfare of dogs and cats across the union.