Agriculture Minister Assunção Cristas denied having approved a tough new law which was threatening to limit the number of pets that owners can have living with them in an apartment. The minister guaranteed the law was “not a priority”.
“It is important to clarify that no law has been approved or even discussed on a political level. This is a discussion that makes no sense at this time because it is not a priority for the government or for the Ministry of Agriculture. I did not even spend one minute looking at it (law) because I have many other priorities.”
The minister attempted to sooth the uproar that was caused among pet owners and animal associations by news reports regarding this issue on Wednesday (October 30).
If the law came into effect, the maximum number of dogs anyone would be able to have would be two, with four being the limit on cats.
President of a Portuguese association of veterinary doctors specialising in pets, Jorge Cid, had questioned: “Imagine that I own a couple of dogs and I would like them to mate in order to have a puppy. Do I have to kill the father or the mother in order to have a one?”
The news of the law even sparked a reaction from CDS-PP party member João Almeida, who described the legislation as “hygiene fascism” and admitted he did not believe the law would be implemented.
A law expert had explained that the current legislation limits the number of pets to an apartment (three dogs or four cats), but is based on situations where pet owners are found to be a public nuisance – responsible for bad smells or too much noise.
The new law would be much tougher, explained Passinhas. “It is a strong law” which means that as soon as any complaint is lodged “local authorities are forced to remove the animals.”
The minister guaranteed, however, that the government has only carried out preparation work to collect and update different laws concerning house pets.
