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Date Published: 22/08/2023

Murcia animal shelters reach breaking point as pet abandonments skyrocket

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According to animal welfare groups, there’s been a “brutal” increase in the number of dumped cats and dogs in the Region of Murcia

Murcia animal shelters reach breaking point as pet abandonments skyrocket

Sadly, the arrival of summer always brings an increase in the number of pets abandoned on our streets, but the “brutal” rise in abandonments in the Region of Murcia this year has stunned protection and rescue agencies. Shelters are at breaking point as the “terrible” situation spins out of control, with most facilities way past capacity.

The latest report from the Affinity Foundation on the abandonment and adoption of dogs and cats in Spain notes an increase in abandonment in 2022, and a definite upward trend after the pandemic. The study, which uses data from a selection of rescues across the country, many of them in the Region of Murcia, estimates that abandonment has risen by 1.3% in the last year. However, the rise in the number of dumped pets in the community stands out sharply.

The new Animal Welfare Law, set to enter into force at the end of next month, aims to reduce animal abandonment by ensuring that all pets are registered on a central database, but for now the situation is spiralling. The Murcia Animal Protection and Zoonoses Control service estimates that almost 50% more dogs and cats were picked up by rescuers in 2022 compared to the previous year – 758 dogs and 229 cats – and group leader Pedro Javier Jiménez is worried that the forecast for 2023 is even worse.

“I am sure that we are going to exceed those figures this year, because in the month of March we had already exceeded those of all of 2021,” he said.

"The month of May was terrible and June remained just as terrible," he added.

One of the driving forces behind these figures is the dramatic increase in the number of feral cats in the Region. According to the Affinity Foundation, in 2007, 24% of the animals collected by shelters were cats, in 2014 the percentage rose to 28.5% and in 2022, 41%. In addition, almost half of the cats that arrive at shelters, 48%, are kittens from unwanted litters, and more than half of the total are sick or injured.

"It is one of the fundamental problems," explains the head of the Murcia Zoonosis service. "That is why the sterilisation that the new animal welfare law will force is so important, because cat owners usually allow them to roam the street much more than dogs."

The president of Cuatro Gatos, a shelter based in Cartagena, suspects that, in many cases, economic reasons are hidden behind the rise in dumped pets.

“We must remember that animal health is taxed at 21% VAT, as if it were a luxury item, and when there is a moment of crisis or, as is often the case, when someone is heartless, the first thing that is overlooked is the animal,” she said.

"This year we have had more abandonments, and I think they will rise even more between now and September," says Mari Carmen Aguilar, a worker at Anguimar, which manages the animal collection and control service for eight municipalities in the Region - Lorca, Torre Pacheco, Alhama, Los Alcázares, Caravaca, Fortuna, Fuente Álamo and Puerto Lumbreras.

She believes the new Animal Welfare Law, which places more demands on pet owners and toughens the penalties for mistreatment and neglect, will create a fresh explosion in abandonments.

“I think that the rise in abandonments that we are seeing is due to this, people get rid of the animal in case they cause a problem. We notice that adoptions have even stopped,” she concluded.

Now read: Sept 9-10 Murcia City pet adoption fair

Image: Guardia Civil

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