The Arrecife City Council will take to the ordinary plenary session of the Corporation this Friday, April 5, the approval of the modification of the Ordinance on the Possession and Protection of Animals and the approval of the Ordinance for the Management of Feline Colonies, proposed by the Councilor for Health and Animal Welfare, Jacobo Lemes.
The first of these initiatives consists of modifying article 25 of the Ordinance on the Possession and Protection of Animals, and Potentially Dangerous Animals, marked by the need to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework that regulates the management of feline colonies existing in the municipal district of Arrecife.
Said article would read as follows: “Feeding animals on public roads that may constitute pests or packs is prohibited, avoiding uncontrolled reproduction and public health problems that may derive from it, with the exception of authorized cat feeders, in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance for the management of feline colonies in the municipality of Arrecife”.
For its part, the Ordinance for the Management of Feline Colonies details the procedures for registration, verification, authorization, signaling, controlled feeding, population control and animal welfare in the feline colonies of the municipality.
“This ordinance is very important because we have to respond to the growing proliferation and uncontrolled settlement of cats in the city, with the consequent inconveniences for neighborhood coexistence, the environment, public health and animal welfare itself,” said Councilor Jacobo Lemes.
The text thus contemplates various actions aimed at "minimizing these annoyances, controlling the feline overpopulation and improving their quality of life", as well as "reducing public health and environmental problems", the Council detailed. In addition, among the highlighted measures are: the creation of a register of cats grouped in colonies in the municipality of Arrecife; the protection and management of cats through their mandatory identification by microchip and the CER method (Capture, Sterilization and Return); authorized feeding of cats through a municipal accreditation for feeders/caretakers of controlled feline colonies; promotion of the adoption of cats from socializable colonies and citizen awareness campaigns. With all this, the ordinance establishes a regime of administrative competences and defines the general conditions for the management of feline colonies, as well as the functions of the responsible and collaborating feeder-caretakers.
In case of non-compliance with the provisions established in the Ordinance on the Possession and Protection of Animals and the Ordinance for the Management of Feline Colonies, the corresponding sanctions will be applied, which would range from financial fines (from up to 750 euros in the case of minor infractions, and from 750.01 to 1,500 euros in the case of serious infractions), to the revocation of the feline colony feeder-caretaker card, depending on the severity of the infraction and its impact on animal welfare and citizen coexistence.
Jacobo Lemes has insisted on the "importance of complying with the regulations to guarantee the welfare of animals and promote good coexistence with the residents" of the capital. “We are committed to the protection of animals and the promotion of responsible policies for the management of feline colonies. These ordinances represent an important step towards that goal and reflect our commitment to the care and protection of animals in our municipality,” he stated.