For a Modern, Effective, Progressist and Fair Animal Protection Code in Portugal

To His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Parliament:

Dear Sir,

1. Considering that it is the duty of humans to respect animals and to ensure that these benefit from legislation which protects them in an adequate and effective way; 2. considering that that duty is increasingly recognised and valued not only within the Portuguese society but also across the world, and that it has been driving governments, parliaments and municipalities from several regions of the world to take advanced legislative and practical steps to protect animals; 3. considering that, in spite of the latter being also a duty of the Portuguese State, this state has not been matching it, or meeting its responsibilities in this field, in a satisfactory way, thus leaving Portugal´s animals cruelly abandoned and victims of the state´s indifference, which, both by actions and omissions, has been permitting that many and serious harms commited against animals may happen in an environment of almost total impunity; 4. considering that the Portuguese State, both by not taking proactive, modern, effective and adequate legislative measures, by not even conducting a satisfactory prevention, enforcement and penalization activity regarding the existing animal protection regulations, by not forbidding cruel, unacceptable and absolutely unnecessary practises, and also by involving some of its institutions, among which are the municipalities, in the cruel treatment of animals, has originated serious problems affecting animals in the country; and also 5. considering that the unprecedented study “Values and Attitudes Towards the Protection of Animals in Portugal”, done in May 2007 by the Center of Sociologic Studies and Research of the ISCTE, based on a survey conducted between February and March 2007 by the survey company Metris GfK, made clear how the majority of the Portuguese people – a very significant one, in many aspects, and overwhelming, in so many others – believes that animals in Portugal are, in fact, extremely unprotected and should, in several areas, be urgently and strongly protected by the Portuguese State;

We, the undersigned, call on the Portuguese Parliament to:

1. Establish and enact a new animal protection law – to be shaped as an Animal Protection Code – that is a) wide-ranging, in a way that it establishes animal protection regulations affecting all areas in which these are somehow used and involved, b) coherent, clear and specific, in a way that its provisions can be understood, respected and enforced in a clear way and without causing any doubts, c) strongly restrictive, establishing i) unequivocally the prohibitions which are due to be defined, ii) strong penalties to the infringements of the law, and iii) exclusive legal permissions to hold animals in captivity and/or to inflict pain, suffering and/or death to animals only in the cases in which that is strictly necessary and justified, also rigidly and clearly regulating those permissions, and d) easy to enforce, in a way that the agencies and officials which are responsible for enforcing the law and making sure it is respected may execute their enforcement work in the most direct, fast and effective manner, so that the infringements may be punished as swiftly and efficiently as possible, also to be accompanied of immediate and precautionary measures to protect the affected animals´ safety and integrity – measures which should be also immediately put to practice by these very agencies and officials;

and

2. To additionally consider and incorporate in the preparation of this new animal protection law – which is requested to be established and enacted shaped as an Animal Protection Code taking into consideration all the aspects mentioned in the previous point – all the elements which are outlined and advocated in the fair, extensive and comprehensive guiding proposal for a Portuguese Animal Protection Code presented in the document “Manifesto ANIMAL”, written by ANIMAL and promoted by this organisation to accomplish a modern, effective, progressist and fair Animal Protection Code in relation to the needs of the legislative protection of animals in Portugal and to the Portuguese State´s duties in this field.