Elkarrekin has registered a total of 98 partial amendments to the future ordinance on animals of Vitoria-Gasteiz, with the aim of ensuring that the regulation protects both companion animals and the entirety of urban wildlife. Among its proposals, the party demands to toughen the most serious penalties up to 200,000 euros.
This was explained by the councilor of Elkarrekin, Óscar Fernández, in a press conference before the media this Wednesday, in which he recalled that the new regulation will replace the one approved in 2013, which was "pioneering in the state" for including the protection of urban wildlife.
However, he criticized that the initiative developed by the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz "has a protection scope that is too limited and is excessively focused on companion animals." Therefore, its amendments propose to extend the scope of the ordinance to all urban wildlife.
Fernández proposes to raise the penalties to the maximum provided in the state regulation, except in the minimum range of minor offenses. For the most serious cases, fines could reach 200,000 euros, double what was initially proposed by the municipal government.
In this line, he has demanded that it be considered a very serious offense to kill community cats, except in legally permitted cases, as well as the separation of feline colonies.
Elkarrekin also suggests punishing certain unauthorized breeding practices, the use of animals in prohibited activities, and genetic selection that harms their welfare or health.
Shows with animals
Regarding shows with animals, Fernández has recalled that in the Alava capital events such as the donkey race of the Santiago festival or falconry at the Medieval Market were banned thanks to the 2013 ordinance.
However, the coalition fears that the new text, by focusing on domestic animals, will create a legal vacuum that allows these prohibitions to be reversed.
For this reason, he has proposed "to maintain in the new ordinance the prohibition of using animals in shows, cultural, festive, advertising, or any other nature activities when they may cause them harm, suffering, degradation, or unnatural treatment."
Protection of community cats
The councilor has positively assessed that the local government includes for the first time a specific section on the management of community cats.
Even so, he has requested to eliminate the option to halt the management of a colony due to 'neighborhood opposition'. In his view, this possibility does not conform to state legislation, which indicates that "municipalities must work to ensure peaceful coexistence between people and feline colonies".
In coherence with this, Elkarrekin demands to establish protocols also for colonies located on private estates and to ensure the cooperation of the City Council with the entities responsible for their management.
Shield the principle of zero euthanasia
Among the amendments is also to reinforce the principle of 'zero euthanasia' at the Animal Protection Center. According to this proposal, "an animal cannot be euthanized because there is no space, because it has a behavioral problem that can be redirected, due to its age, for economic reasons, for having been abandoned, or for suffering from an illness or injury that can receive treatment".
In this way, euthanasia is only contemplated in cases of terminal illness or irreversible injury that causes intense and continuous pain.
Additionally, the training proposes to launch a permanent adoption campaign "with transparency of the data from the animal protection center itself" and with subsequent follow-up of the adoptions. Another of its proposals is to promote campaigns to prevent abandonment and "facilitate that animals find a suitable and responsible home".