A new municipal veterinary team will be hired for Loulé “before the end of the year”. Plans are also in the pipeline for a new, bigger kennel to be built in the borough.
The announcement was made last week by animal rights party PAN, which visited the municipal kennel before Portugal’s ‘no-kill’ law came into effect (September 23).
Says PAN, local mayor Vítor Aleixo has shown a desire to build a new municipal kennel, especially after plans for two large kennels to be built in the Algarve appear to have failed. However, “finding land for the new kennel has proved difficult”.
The party also spoke with municipal vet Paulo Pina, who revealed that the council has been promoting sterilisation campaigns and free microchipping for stray animal populations that are identified as being looked after by “responsible carers”.
More than 300 operations were carried out in one year, helping to keep stray animal populations under control.
According to PAN, animals adopted from the kennel are already “sterilised, vaccinated, microchipped and registered”.
But the party would like to see more done, having suggested that every animal that enters the kennel should be electronically registered until it is adopted, with the creation of an online page with information and photos of the animals.
Councillor Abílio Sousa said that the borough is not technically prepared for this yet but will be working on upgrading its system “very soon”.
PAN’s Paulo Baptista says that some “important steps have been taken” in Loulé, although it is “essential to create a larger area for the animals where they can exercise and live with dignity”.
