The new animal protection laws began to create a fundamental obligation for all town halls in Spain, consisting in the fact that there must be a collection service for abandoned animals 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Additionally, they should ensure that if an animal ever needs veterinary assistance, they will receive it.
Frankly, all this contradicts the fact that many municipalities have neither the means, nor the budget, nor the infrastructure, so how will they comply with the law?
It’s not easy, but there are some possibilities to get as close to it as possible. In fact, the law itself provides for the involvement of Provincial Assemblies in the provision of such a service. How can it work? As with startups and all new services, initially covering a few minimal things.
For example, creating a 24-hour animal collection service directly or through a tender to cover services in smaller municipalities would be a good start. Also, in addition to the Local Police itself, if any, Civil Protection, Environmental Red Cross, associations in the area, etc. can also be relied upon.
Regarding 24-hour veterinary service, you can agree with different veterinary hospitals in the province. In this way, the animal collection service can transport animals to these hospitals due to accident or illness when necessary.
In this way, we would have both fulfilled the initial obligations of the law and established a system that could be improved over time.
However, the issue of where to leave these animals still remains to be resolved. In principle, it can be from a small temporary shelter where the animal is only a few hours before transfer to a reference shelter, or from a long-term provincial shelter where collection, reception, veterinary services, care are provided. and even the adoption of all these animals. The more sugar, the sweeter.