One year after Law 21,020, there are 1,196,794 pets already registered in the National Pet Registry, a major advance in responsible tenure. However, neglect and abuse remains a strong issue that seems to have no responsibility.
On social media and through different means, we constantly learn that temporary home is sought for a rescued animal, either because it was taken from a hostile environment by aggression, neglect, malnutrition; or because his owner decided he couldn’t take care of him anymore and left him to his fate.
This is how the concept of temporary homes, which are physical places run by a very willing person, is born, offering for a certain time their home, taking responsibility for the basic care of a pet in a street situation, and often also, of their medical care.
While temporary homes are of valuable help, they are not the ultimate solution to eliminate the problem of animal abandonment at the root. For their part, foundations and NGOs do not give enough to accommodate the large number of abandoned animals, which leads us to ask what about public policies that have not done the respective work, even if the law of responsible tenure 21020 exists?
Let us remember that the law protects animals, punishes abandonment and gives certain responsibilities to municipalities, such as monitoring. However, we often hear that municipalities do not have sufficient resources to monitor, build shelters that possess the conditions that dogs and cats need to live temporarily, provide them with food and medical care until adopted, among other aspects.
So who takes care of this problem that doesn’t seem to diminish? Many of us welcome this new law, because a large number of people have complied with implanting the chip to their pets, as well as in the municipalities free sterilization campaigns were initiated, but is it enough? What about the dogs in the street?
The management and implementation of the law is not sufficient. The law must be accompanied by clear regulations that establish the economic and human resources that municipalities will have in order to face this reality, which today, in a large percentage, is in the hands of people of goodwill and good will the heart, that at best they can temporarily take a pet off the street and take care of it until they are adopted by a family that loves them.
The content poured into this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
