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Pets and wild animals in Spain have gained a better deal under new protections introduced to the Spanish Civil Code. The updated legislation ensures animals are no longer considered “objects” in a move that follows years of campaigning from animal rights organisations.
Four years since it was first proposed, Spanish Congress voted to update the legal code so that it recognises animals as sentient beings, as was already the case in Spain’s Criminal code, regional administrative laws and European laws.
Civil law covers conflicts relating to family and property, such as divorces. By introducing animal rights to the code, lawmakers have prohibited animals from being seized, abandoned, mistreated or separated from their owner in the case of a divorce or separation. It ensures that throughout the process, parties must prioritise the animal’s welfare.
This means that, although the bill also includes wild animals, the update will primarily affect domesticated animals.
“It’s a step forward and it says that in separations and divorces, the arrangement that will be applied to the animals will take into account not only the interests of the humans but also of the animal,” María González Lacabex, from legal animal rights group INTERcids, told El País.
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The legislation also considers animals’ mental and physical health, introducing clauses to offer compensation when an animal’s health is negatively affected by civil conflicts.
Spain’s lower house, the Congress of Deputies, passed the bill with support from most of Congress except for the far-right Vox party, which voted against the changes.
Congress members welcomed the legislation, including Juantxo López de Uralde, from Unidas Podemos, who told El País: “It’s a moral victory in a country where 200,000 animals are abandoned each year.”
Till now Spain's civil laws treated animals as objects. They were “not considered different from a television,” Guillermo Díaz of the Ciudadanos (Citizens) party added.
With about 30,000 couples with pets separating every year in Spain, the changes could significantly improve animal welfare in the country.
