The European Commission has presented a working document (SWD) with new EU rules regarding the welfare and accounting of cats and dogs in the process of their commercial breeding, keeping, and sale. This was reported by the Spanish veterinary portal Animal’s Health.
For the first time, the European Commission proposed developing new standards at the end of last year. This week, a working document (SWD) was published, which presents an analysis of the dog and cat breeding and trading sector in the European Union, as well as current methods of accounting for them.
“Considering that about 44% of EU citizens are pet owners, the trade in dogs and cats represents a growing economic sector, worth over 1.3 billion euros per year, and employing around 300,000 people,” the publication quotes from the document.
It is emphasized that more than 60% of pets are sold and purchased through online platforms, leading to a significant increase in illegal dog and cat trade in the EU. This issue was thoroughly examined in a report by the European Commission published at the end of 2023, which revealed details of this trade and identified legislative gaps that contribute to its growth.
It is also reported that the SWD was prepared based on extensive consultations with legislative bodies from various EU countries and with scientific and technical support from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The document does not make changes to the rules applicable to ordinary citizens and pet owners. Its aim is to establish minimum requirements for the conditions of keeping dogs and cats in kennels, pet shops, and shelters, as well as to create stricter requirements for the identification and monitoring of pets through the establishment of a unified database that allows for the automatic tracking of online sales. These measures are intended to assist government authorities in controlling the breeding and trading of dogs and cats, as well as to provide buyers with reliable information about the animals provided by sellers.
