Mistreatment of pets in Portugal now a criminal offence

Portugal's parliament today approved a bill that criminalises the mistreatment of pets.

This was a free vote on animal welfare today with no party line pressure put on MPs.

During the debate one of the Algarve’s MPs Cristóvão Norte said the draft law submitted by the Social Democrats “makes history in advancing animal welfare in Portugal."

Norte highlighted not only the "deterrent" aspect of criminalising cruelty to companion animals, but also the "symbolism" of having this legislation in the penal code which is "the cornerstone of the Portuguese legalstructure."

MP Pedro Delgado Alves said that the legislative initiative "did not exempt other work" in the area of animal welfare, but is "a step forward."

The parliamentary leader of the CDS-PP Pedro Filipe Soares stressed that the scope of the draft law does not supercede the petition filed by Portugal’s Animal Association, and stated that wider animal rights work must continue to develop.

MP and lawyer Heloisa Apolonia warned that without supervision and resources there is little point in having legislation which then is not applied, pointing to the myriad of public bodies involved in animal welfare and suggesting that there was a tidying up of the legislation to combat the remaining confusion.

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