/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/IQFRSMEYCBFZJMO7ECI5ABO7IM.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
The number of animal abandonments has decreased considerably in Barcelona since the Pedro Sánchez government announced the state of alarm on March 14. The Executive allowed the owners to walk their pets in a radius close to their homes. The municipal kennel collected 93 dogs and 41 cats in the streets of the Catalan capital in April 2019. Instead, last April, only 33 dogs and 19 cats were registered.
The City Council is cautious when considering this drastic reduction. Anna Ortonoves, the head of the animal protection department at the Town Hall, does not dare to assess the situation: “It is true that very few animals have entered the Companion Animal Shelter Center (CAACB), from the loss or abandonment, this April. Still, it is early to draw conclusions and we could regret a rebound in dropouts in a few weeks. ” Ortonoves highlights that the main cause of abandonment is the birth of new litters. “The second cause is when the owners abandon the animal because they don’t like its behavior, and the third one comes when the hunting season is over and they abandon the dogs,” he regrets. The abandonment of cats is usually more seasonal between June and August, which is when they usually have litters.
For her part, the third deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, warned: “From the Barcelona City Council we continue to work with the aim of achieving zero abandonment and we are committed to prevention. The way to reduce the problem is to raise public awareness about the responsible ownership of pets and guarantee the well-being of the animals housed in the CAACB ”.
Bonet appealed to families who want to “incorporate a companion animal into their lives”, since during the first weeks of confinement it has not been possible to formalize adoptions and many animals have ended up in foster homes.
–
