The parliamentary groups that support the Valencian Government reached an agreement yesterday at the last breath to approve the Animal Welfare Law before the end of the legislature. After months of debate and public discrepancies, Compromís and Unides Podem cede and assume the theses of the PSPV to protect hunting dogs with some important qualification.
This agreement makes it possible to unblock the regulations that were stuck due to an error in the voting that caused two contradictory amendments to be approved. Finally, the Compromís and Unides Podem groups that once rejected the socialist proposal (which did have the support of the PP and Ciudadanos) have rectified their position and have endorsed the text presented by the PSPV deputy David Calvo.
This text, which in its day was interpreted as a wink from the socialist party to the hunting sector, establishes that "injuries that seriously impair the health of the animal" suffered by "companion animals that do tasks or activities" are not considered mistreatment. in the exercise of their specific functions”.
In this way, they explained, the mishaps that those animals that are selected for their physical, instinctive or temperamental aptitudes that are trained to help people in a regulated activity or specific content may have, would not qualify as abuse.
With this exception that is used for hunting dogs but also for police or rescue dogs, the Socialists tried to reduce the tension with the hunters who had denounced that with the previous articles their practice was made very difficult.
In commission, the members of the PSPV opposed this wording that came out ahead with the votes of the opposition. However, yesterday both Unides Podem and Compromís justified their change of position with the argument that it was the way to unblock it and ensure the approval of the regulations.
The deputy spokesman for Compromís Carles Esteve admitted the complexity of the law and valued its approval after stressing that it goes beyond what is being processed in the Cortes Generales and that it does totally exclude hunting dogs from any protection. Esteve applauded the consensus reached by the Botànic groups.
For her part, the Unides Podem deputy, Beatriu Gascó, also pointed out that despite not sharing the text promoted by the Socialists – "we would have accepted only by removing the adjective seriously" – "it was worth pushing forward with a much-needed law that provides many advances”. Gascó lamented that "the Socialists were subject to the interests of the hunting federation and not to the recommendations of the Environment Prosecutor."
Thus, the Animal Welfare law will be approved next week together with the Climate Change Agency, as the plenary session of the coming week was ordered yesterday. Progress will also be made in the parliamentary process, in this penultimate plenary session of the legislature, of three other laws: Law on Depopulation, Law on Citizen Participation and Law on Collaborative Housing. These will be approved in the last plenary scheduled for March.
Thus, these five will be the last five laws of the second Botanical. They are left out and the processing of two others that have not arrived on time will decline: the Family Diversity Law and the Commerce Law, both promoted by the Conselleria de Compromís.
