The has government created a working group to define a national strategy about pets that is to be presented, according to Jornal de Notícias.

The main proposals will be the reinforcement of funds, currently €150,000, which is considered to not be enough, for the mass sterilisation of animals from needy families and the national census of pets.

Jorge Cid, president of the Order of Vets, who is part of the Working Group for Animal Welfare, considers that it is within these families that there is mass reproduction and the abandonment of young pets. "We have to fight the increase in stray animals by encouraging families not to abandon them and one of the measures is free mass sterilisation, for pets that are in the care of families without financial conditions to do this themselves".

The national census of pets, along with the issue of abandonment, stands out in the list of indications that the Government will receive from the working group. "We have to understand the real number of pets and their distribution across the national territory if we want to apply any measure to combat abandonment more effectively" says the president.