Hunting dogs without rights: "indignation" grows over the PSOE's amendment to the animal law

The Parliamentary Association in Defense of Animal Rights (APDDA), made up of fifty parliamentarians and former parliamentarians, and to which Senator Cristina Narbona, former Minister of the Environment and president of the PSOE, belongs, has joined the list of entities and political parties that criticize the amendment presented by the Socialist Parliamentary Group (PSOE) to the draft Law for the Protection, Rights and Welfare of Animals that seeks to exclude animals used in human activities from the protection of said legislation.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
19 September 2022 Monday 12:04
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Hunting dogs without rights: "indignation" grows over the PSOE's amendment to the animal law

The Parliamentary Association in Defense of Animal Rights (APDDA), made up of fifty parliamentarians and former parliamentarians, and to which Senator Cristina Narbona, former Minister of the Environment and president of the PSOE, belongs, has joined the list of entities and political parties that criticize the amendment presented by the Socialist Parliamentary Group (PSOE) to the draft Law for the Protection, Rights and Welfare of Animals that seeks to exclude animals used in human activities from the protection of said legislation.

If the socialist amendment prospers, the bill presented and defended until now by the Government would cease to affect and protect hunting dogs, according to the resolution approved by the Permanent Commission of the APDDA, which expresses its "indignation" with the amendment of the socialist group and calls for its immediate withdrawal.

"The approval of a state animal protection law is one of the founding objectives of APDDA, since our constitution in December 2007. After many years of work, in this legislature the conditions are finally met so that this can be fulfilled. objective, which should guarantee a basic level of protection for the various Autonomous Communities", recalls this association of parliamentarians in the official note in which they set out their position.

"The amendment presented by the PSOE, written at the dictation of the powerful hunting lobby, supposes not only a serious mutilation of the Bill, but also a setback in animal protection, by lowering the bar set out in the 17 regional laws. In no regional law hunting dogs and other animals used in human activities are excluded. Moreover, they are recognized as companion animals, regardless of the function they may fulfill. It is inconceivable and inadmissible that a state law could be passed that would deny hunting dogs that condition.

The APDDA recalls that "given that the PSOE won the November 2019 elections with the commitment included in its electoral program to approve "an Animal Welfare Law that guarantees a respectful relationship towards all living beings", a commitment also literally included in the Government program of the Progressive Coalition PSOE-United We Can, we are forced to remind the Secretary General of the PSOE and President of the Government of his commitment: an animal protection law for all animals, without exclusions".

The association of parliamentarians considers that Spanish society is, with regard to the protection of animal rights, "at the decisive moment: either we take advantage of this historic opportunity to approve a law that brings us closer to European standards, in the 21st century , as our society mostly demands, or we can go back several decades".

Due to the importance of the situation and the state of processing of the bill, APDDA urges the PSOE to "reconsider its position, to withdraw this controversial amendment and to continue negotiating to find the best possible text that guarantees the protection that everyone deserves and needs. animals in Spain".