"Displaying and Selling Dogs and Cats Banned" ... EU-Wide Implementation Imminent

"Purpose is to establish minimum protection standards"
"This is the first time unified standards are being pursued at the EU level"

The sale of dogs and cats in stores is set to be banned across the European Union (EU).

The European Parliament announced in a press release on June 19 (local time) that, during a plenary session held in Strasbourg, France, the draft bill on "Dog and Cat Welfare and Traceability" was approved with 457 votes in favor, 17 against, and 86 abstentions.

Photo to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay.

This establishes the Parliament's position on the draft proposed by the European Commission, the executive branch, in December 2023. The legislative process will be finalized after trilogue negotiations among the Council, which represents the 27 member states, the European Parliament, and the Commission.

The purpose of the bill is to prohibit illegal pet trading, establish minimum protection standards, and introduce enforceable measures for breeders. This is the first time that unified standards are being pursued at the EU level.

According to the draft, it will become mandatory for all dogs and cats bred in the 27 EU member states to be microchipped and registered with national databases. If animals are brought in from third countries, they must be microchipped in advance and registered in the online database at least five days before arrival in the EU, even if the import is not for commercial purposes. This is intended to prevent the resale of pets brought in for non-commercial purposes.

The display and sale of dogs and cats in stores will also be legally prohibited. It will be forbidden to confine animals in cramped cages or to separate puppies or kittens from their mothers before eight weeks of age. The bill also includes breeding and husbandry regulations, such as limiting the number of litters a female may have.

According to the Commission, about 44% of the total EU population, nearly half, own pets. The scale of the animal trade amounts to 1.3 billion euros (approximately 2 trillion Korean won) annually. However, there have been persistent calls for urgent measures, as there are currently no unified EU-wide welfare standards for pets.