PP and Vox yesterday presented an approach amendment in Les Corts Valencianes to shield the use of electronic collars on hunting dogs. A proposal that was made at the request of the Valencian Community Hunting Federation with the aim of ensuring hunters the use of these instruments on their animals and avoiding legal problems.
The president of the Hunting Federation, Lorena Martínez, met yesterday in the Valencian Parliament with the ombudsmen of PP, Miguel Barrachina, and Vox, Ana Vega, and justified the need to ensure the legal use of electric and impulse collars. According to the new wording supported by PP and Vox that was presented minutes before the debate began, in the Animal Welfare Law approved this year it will be prohibited "to use collars that may be harmful to pets, except if they are used by professionals with due justification or in animals of the canine species with social functions or that carry out specific tasks or activities, in the exercise of these, always in accordance with community animal welfare standards."
A wording that according to its promoters prevents the mistreatment of animals, while providing legal certainty not only to hunters, but also to professionals such as police or firefighters who use dogs in the performance of their duties.
Currently there are 37,000 federated people, according to data from the Valencian Community Hunting Federation itself, as well as 50,000 people with a hunting license. All in all, they have become an important lobby for the new government; Last Monday, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, received the president of the federation at the Palau to address the main lines of action on which the Consell is working together with this sector.
In yesterday's debate in the Economy, Budget and Finance Commission, the PP gave its support for the creation of an Administrative Court of public contracts as a specialized body in the review of these contracts. The Popular Party reached an agreement with Compromís, which had presented this amendment to the so-called law to accompany the budgets of the Generalitat for 2024, and they agreed on a final wording that all groups voted in favor of except Vox, which abstained.
Where there was no possible agreement was in the vote on the amendments to the Gaming Law presented by PP and Vox and that will allow betting establishments to renew their current concessions without the need to move further away from educational centers and other vulnerable spaces - places with high unemployment and poverty rate. Under current regulations, when current licenses expire, betting houses would have to be located more than 850 meters from sensitive areas.
Vox justified its decision yesterday on the fact that "restrictive and harmful legislation cannot be applied retroactively to those affected who established their companies in compliance with the law in force" at that time. For the opposition, the amendments of the Consell members encourage gambling and favor gambling operators.
