Recently, Silvina Vaccarezza, a deputy of the Buenos Aires Legislature for the UCD + Cambio Federal bloc, introduced a Bill aimed at regulating establishments dedicated to breeding dogs.
According to the legislator, the initiative’s main purpose is the protection of animals, as well as human health and the environment.
The bill includes the requirement for municipal permits and the supervision of veterinary technical directors.
Furthermore, it establishes specific building requirements to ensure compliance with animal welfare regulations and respect hygienic-sanitary conditions and operational standards.
In case of non-compliance with these provisions, sanctions would be applied, ranging from a warning and fines (of which 40% would go to the municipality), to the suspension of the permit, the closure of the breeding center, or the seizure of the dogs through a prior court order, which would be entrusted to animal protection NGOs. Vaccarezza states that this bill was the result of consensus with various stakeholders involved in the matter.
Upon learning about the news of the Bill, a large group composed of representatives of legal defense of animals, lawyers, institutions, academics, teachers, researchers, and personalities from the legal field, together with animal protection organizations from across the country, expressed their views rapidly and decisively.
Why the animal rights group opposes the bill
This group presented a formal document to the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Province of Buenos Aires, Alexis Guerrera, in which they express their defense of non-human animals and their rejection of Vaccarezza’s project.
“No one who truly defends non-human animals can agree to regulate the abuse and exploitation of a living being for human benefit. Those who support the exploitation of these innocent beings, with or without control, cannot claim to be protecting animals or fighting for their well-being,” stated Elba Tiburzi, representative of Alerta Galgo Argentina, to Noticias Ambientales.
Tiburzi added, “this Bill, besides containing serious errors in legislative technique, sets a disastrous precedent for animal protection. This happens at a time when many municipalities, contrary to what the legislator proposes, are expressing their opposition to the sale of animals on the streets and in commercial premises, and some even prohibit breeding for commercial purposes.”
“What this legislator is doing is giving a free pass to suffering, abuse, cruelty, and the abuse of innocent lives that have no choice, treating them as objects and violating penal law 14346,” Tiburzi continued.
“Besides their misinformation, the NGOs that have been taking care, with court orders, of the animals that the breeding centers destroy. We don’t need their project to tell us what civil associations should do.”
The group considers this initiative another deception presented under the guise of animal welfare, similar to the recent ordinance of Berazategui that, although announced as a ban on breeders, in practice ends up authorizing the activity.
On the other hand, Dr. María de las Victoria González Silvano, professor of Animal Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), defined the situation as follows: “Regulating breeders is akin to regulating human trafficking; its beginning and end are profit.
These activities never aim at care or education of a being that we consider part of the family. Supporting this regulation is approving abuse and cruelty. Any form of exploitation of a sentient being must be prohibited, never regulated.” She stated for Noticias Ambientales.
