Process of the animal protection law provoked disputes between merchants and defenders

Traders and advocates of animal disputed on the streets this March 11 outside the Assembly, while the debate to the Animal Welfare Law (LOBA for its Spanish acronym) was being processed, whih was filed last October by protective groups of animals.

Environmentalists demanded that the norm be approved independently and not as part of the Code of Environment. Traders claimed their rights. “We work with dignity: the sale of pets is not a crime,” they said. “The animals are not a good,” was the answer.

Javier Vargas, Director of Animal Health, explained that the production, land and transport for slaughter will be regulated. “We must make a relation between public and animal health,” he said.

Some gaps were identified, among them the defining of ‘abandoned’ animals. Carmen Velasco, Director of Environmental Health, suggested that a technical definition of terms should be included. It is important, she said, to see the circumstances and be sure to follow a procedure.