04/10/18 Veterinarians for castration of dogs and cats
Veterinarians supported the regulation of permanent sterilization (spaying/neutering) as a control for breeding dogs and cats
- Today, more than 10.000 dogs and cats pass through the shelters in Croatia yearly
Croatian Small Animal Veterinary Section (CSAVS) at the Croatian Veterinary Chamber, aware of the situation regarding the occurrence of unwanted animals in Croatia, has supported the legal possibility of prescribing mandatory permanent sterilization by cities and municipalities.
In its opinion, the CSAVS states that the new Animal Protection Law has brought numerous
civilizational and humane advances in the protection and welfare of animals, and all owners,
veterinarians, state administration and local authorities should participate in its implementation in such a way that they are obliged to take care of animals which are entrusted in our care, but also about those for which irresponsible owners do not care about. They point out that today, more than 10.000 dogs and cats are passing through the shelters in Croatia with several thousands of dogs in Roma villages (only in Meðimurje, around 3000), abandoned pets are found in the streets and animal protection associations volunteer with their care for thousands of animals. CSAVS has a responsibility towards both all these animals and people.
Veterinarians of the CSAVS are directly involved in the problem of keeping companion animals and in practice they encounter on a daily basis not only with the responsible keeping of the animals but also with numerous abandoned animals. In their support, they further state that their collaboration with numerous animal protection associations is manifested through the help of abandoned animals that come daily to veterinary clinics, ambulances, and practices every day. They say that it is not the help provided by veterinarians that is questionable, often to animals with very serious injuries, neglected and abused, but the common problem is the impossibility of charging high costs due to irresponsible owners. In all these situations, they selflessly give their time and knowledge, set up diagnoses, cure, vaccinate and castrate using appropriate therapeutic, anesthetic and analgesic protocols.
They conclude: "Therefore, the prescription of permanent sterilization by the Animal Protection Act (NN 102/17, Article 52, paragraphs 4 and 5, Article 62, paragraph 6) is the measure we support, with the exception of animal owners who do not want that for the benefit of their own animals, and their registration without any consequences on their decision on the right to choose".
Animal Friends Croatia association and the Animal Protection Network, set up of 30 associations throughout Croatia, thank the Veterinary Chamber and Croatian Small Animal Veterinary Section for supporting cities and municipalities to address the causes of the problem, stop animal suffering and protect their budgets from allocating financial resources due to irresponsible citizens.
It is praiseworthy that the Animal Protection Act provides a regulation for a mandatory microchip control according to which local communities, by June 30th must check whether all dogs in their area are microchipped. In order for the cities and municipalities to solve the problem completely, it is also necessary to exploit the legal tool that allows them to designate permanent sterilization as a way of breeding control of dogs and cats. Even when all the dogs are microchipped, there is still a problem of uncontrolled reproduction and rejected puppies that need help. Given the fact that animal breeding control has been legally mandatory since 2006, it is logical for local communities to finally define a specific way of reproduction control, meaning that it should be permanent sterilization (spaying/neutering) for dogs and cats.
Everything stated above is with the aim of supporting those cities and municipalities that have been or are in the process of deciding on permanent sterilization of dogs and cats. These decisions are extremely important in order to prevent the incredible suffering of animals and the emergence of an already exceptionally large number of abandoned animals, as well as to achieve concrete savings on financial expenditures resulting from irresponsible citizens.