The northern town of Póvoa de Varzim has pledged to stop putting animals down when its kennel becomes overcrowded.
Instead, the cats and dogs will taken to local refuge ‘A Cerca – Abrigo dos Animais Abandonados’ which will be supported by €20,000 a year from the local authority.
Mayor Aires Pereira explained: “A Cerca needed to improve the living conditions for the animals it cares for, and as they requested money from the council, we made them an offer to share the management of the municipal kennels”.
Pereira said that the kennels are not old, but they simply do not have the capacity to care for all the animals rescued from neglect and abandonment.
“Every year, around 80 to 90 have put down. We’ve wanted to stop this for a long time,” he said, expressing his delight that Póvoa de Varzim will now become one of the few boroughs in Portugal to eradicate municipal animal slaughter.
The move comes as PAN – the People, Animals, Nature party – continues to push for changes to the way animals are treated in Portugal, and is asking for a countrywide ban on the slaughter of healthy animals in municipal shelters.
