In a statement released late last week, the party said the measure regarding municipal animal shelters has been formally passed. An existing law includes measures such as creating a network of shelters and banning putting stray animals down as a form of population control.
PAN said it is “the government’s duty to collaborate with local councils and make that network happen.”
A statement published on PAN’s website last Friday read “PAN saw its proposal for the 2017 State Budget, to provide support to municipalities in building Official Animal Collection Centres (CROAs), also known as kennels, welcomed by the government.”
The party, led by André Silva, said the objective is not to finance all kennels, but to “encourage municipalities to create dignified technical and material conditions to take in animals.”
PAN recalled that it has been compulsory for all municipalities to have a kennel since 2001, and that 15 years later, only 180 of the country’s 308 municipalities have official shelters.
“Local policymakers can no longer ignore the importance of implementing public animal welfare and protection policies in their municipalities”, the party stressed.
However, the government has rejected PAN’s other proposals, to lower the IVA tax on pet food, as well as doing away with IVA exemptions on the provision of services by bullfighters.