Category: Politics and animals

Tackling irresponsible pet ownership. Spain leading the way.

While irresponsible pet ownership continues to escalate in the UK, the Government rests on its laurels under the misapprehension that their oft quoted saying that ” we have the best animal welfare laws in the world” is actually true.

While dangerous dogs roam the U.K attacking, injuring and killing humans and children alike, not to mention other dogs and livestock in ever increasing numbers, record numbers of unwanted pets in rescue centres and incidents of neglect and cruelty prevalent, the UK government scrapped its flagship animal welfare bill a few months ago, a 2019 election promise and seems to be in no hurry to take the issues seriously.

irresponsible pet ownership.

Spain’s new animal laws leading the way.

Whereas in Spain it appears they may be leading the way in really tackling the blight of irresponsible and uninformed dog and cat owning by introducing new laws from September 29, 2023. These are quite stringent with the inclusion of some far reaching and controversial requirements. All prospective dog owners must complete a course on how to look after them before acquiring one and present owners have two years to do the course. Failure or refusal means no dog ownership.

All pet owners must notify the authorities of an animal’s ownership so that a register can be kept. Non registered are subjected to seizure and sent to a protection centre and the owner fined. Third party civil liability insurance, vaccination and neutering will all be mandatory on dogs and cats which are not kept solely indoors. Most of these measures have a with 10,000 euro fine attached. Dogs can only be left home alone maximum six to eight hours, two hours in case of puppies or risk a 10,000 euro fine.

New fines and penalties have been drastically increased and divided into categories of seriousness of the offence and range from 500 euros to 200,000 euros and 3 to 18 months behind bars. These are way above UK penalties.

Are draconian laws to tackle irresponsible pet ownership the answer.

Draconian I hear everyone cry, but have we reached the point where they are necessary. Pushing the message that not all people have a right to own a pet despite their financial and physical circumstances has always been avoided for fear of riots in the streets, but the cause of most problems over the last few decades is that we have never addressed this issue. Even if Spain’s new regulations prove to be unenforceable it is a step in the right direction if we are ever to get on top of feckless and irresponsible ownership. But I fear most dog owners may not agree or would they?

Responsible dog owners getting fed up with antisocial owners.

Giant Pandas for rent. No way to treat a vulnerable species.

China has been renting out Giant Pandas for decades at astronomical fees. The sorry state of Ya Ya and Le Le are the result.

In December 2022, Memphis Zoo returned two sorry looking aged Giant Pandas named Ya Ya and Le Le back to their homeland to great fanfare and publicity. According to the zoo Ya Ya and Le Le helped “pioneer research and conservation projects” and drew visitors to Memphis to “get a small taste of the exquisite culture of the People’s Republic of China.”

But according to several animal advocacy groups the zoo had not been providing them with adequate food or enough outdoor freedom and cited instances of them pacing in circles. These groups had been criticising the zoo for months and have claimed victory now that they are being returned to China. But it would appear their return may have been more to do with their contract expiring. And what are they returning to?

Giant Pandas Ya Ya and Le Le
The poor old pandas being airlifted home

What future for Ya Ya and Le Le

At 24 years old and 22 years old respectively, having already exceeded the usual life expectancy by a considerable amount, Ya Ya and Le Le may not have much of a future. Not to mention the stress of being uprooted and flown round the world.

Few people realise that Giant Pandas are “rented” out by China. After the Second World war China was in the habit of “gifting” Giant pandas to other countries as part of trade agreements and diplomacy and zoos would clamour to house them. But in 1984 China changed this policy and began leasing them for high monthly fees. This changed again in 1991 to ten year leases costing up to US$1 million dollars per year with any cubs born having to be returned to China.

Some cynics have suggested that the Giant Panda is used as a “strategic asset for geopolitical reasons” because of the many trade agreements coinciding with their arrival in a country. The Pandas at Edinburgh coincided with a £2.6 billion worth of trade contracts for Britain. Zoos in France, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand also received Pandas following trade agreements.

Giant Pandas can assure a zoo’s financial future

They always come in pairs and the zoos pray they will breed as any cubs born boost their visitors and make them tens of millions in revenue. Any cub born costs the zoos a further “baby tax” until they are returned to China for breeding at 2 to 3 years old to support a healthy gene pool. In 2012, Toronto Zoo paid the going price of $1 million per annum for a pair and they produced two cubs which resulted in visitor numbers shooting up.

Edinburgh zoo rented a pair in 2011 named Yang Guang and Tian Tian with a contract costing £600,000 a year and they must be returned at the end of  this agreement. Not that the zoo was too worried about the investment as visitor numbers shot up by 4 million in the first two years at £16 plus a head. This contract was extended by two years because of Covid and they are due to go back in 2o23.

The crowds tend to have a habit of losing interest if a cub is not born to reinvigorate the attraction, but luckily a cub was born in 2017 to much excitement and media coverage and probably to the relief of the zoo’s accountants.

Giant panda cubs lined up in China breeding centre
Bred for what?

Captive numbers have increased, but for what?

The number of wild and captive Pandas has increased to over 2,000 and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have downgraded their endangered species label to “vulnerable”, but this does not mean that they are plentiful in the wild or will ever be, as there is very little room in suitable habitats for their release.

China (and of course the zoos they have been rented to) has bred and reared over 400 giant pandas and love to show off all the cute babies to world acclaim, but allegedly only 10 have ever been released into the wild since 1983 and only two of these have survived which appears to make a total nonsense of breeding them for release.

The bottom line seems to be that Giant Pandas have been reduced to tradeable merchandise.

Fund-raising Giant Pandas for rent and loan.
What is Zoonasia?
The lure of ‘get up close’ animal attractions