Complaints from residents and news about the poor conditions in which the animals live in the Municipal Kennel of Loulé led the Loulé municipality to issue a statement demarcating «any practice that jeopardizes the welfare and rights of animals » and where he guarantees that «it is making every effort to develop a policy to protect animals, improving their living conditions, particularly for dogs and cats».
The local authority, which has an ongoing disciplinary process introduced to the municipal veterinarian, also says that it has already carried out «a survey of the equipment and material needed to improve the functioning of the Municipal Kennel» and that «the Municipal Council technicians are drawing up a project with the objective of expanding and improving the conditions of care and accommodation of animals in this place».
However, he says that, in the meantime, «improvements have already been carried out in the Municipal Kennel of Loulé, in order to provide better comfort conditions for the animals housed there» and says «»out loud»» that «the many photos that have circulated on social networks where the animals are in visibly degrading conditions in the Kennel space, they are not current, so its use, nor its dissemination is not understood».
In the statement that was sent to newsrooms also with an English version, due to "the large number of British citizens residing in the Municipality of Loulé dedicated to the animal cause", the municipality recalls that, since the beginning of his term, the mayor Vitor Aleixo "assumed the commitment to improve the conditions in the Municipal Kennel and maintain a relationship of proximity and collaboration with the associations that present work plans for the same".
In this sense, "expressed indications were given regarding the non-authorization of the slaughter of animals, particularly in the Municipal Kennel, being, however, safeguarded in situations where public health or extreme suffering were at stake".
According to the local authority, “a protocol was also signed with the Association of Friends of Abandoned Animals of Loulé, through which a subsidy was granted to cover the costs of maintenance and good care of the animals, in particular at the S. Francisco de Assis Kennel ».
The City Council also said that next April, a Regulation on Life and Animal Protection of the Municipality of Loulé should be submitted to the Municipal Assembly for approval, and that the General Veterinary Directorate was asked for «an authorization request that will enable the carrying out of sterilization campaigns with legally constituted associations that want to collaborate in these actions».
The conditions in which the animals are kept and treated at the Loulé Municipal Kennel have deserved much criticism from residents and animal protection associations, and there are two ongoing petitions related to the matter.
The first, which has close to 1800 subscriptions, and asks for the temporary closure of the Municipal Kennel of Loulé, makes several complaints about the functioning of the space, including «the practice of medical and veterinary acts without the proper physical and human conditions», the maintenance of animals «all together, including the who have injuries' or in relation to the slaughter of animals 'without complying with the legal provisions relating to the collection, capture and slaughter of pet animals'.
The other petition, on the other hand, which calls for the accountability of "all stakeholders in the Municipality of Loulé as well as the Municipal Kennel for crimes committed in the exercise of their functions", demands that "the law is complied with and that those responsible for such cruelty be held accountable unnameable". This petition has 677 signatures.
However, as the municipality of Loulé clarified, although not everything is still well, the current situation of the Municipal Kennel is already quite different from the one that motivated these petitions.
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