Cats and the law: the example of Spain
In Spain, Law 7/2023 on animal welfare, in force since 29 September 2023, requires cats to be microchipped and neutered and regulates feral colonies, with regions and town councils adding their own rules. Elsewhere the rules differ, so check your own country’s.
Microchipping and neutering
Spain’s Law 7/2023 on the protection of the rights and welfare of animals requires cats to be identified with a microchip and entered on the corresponding register, and to be surgically neutered before six months of age, with one exception: breeding cats registered to a registered breeder. The chip is implanted by a vet and is the only reliable way for a lost cat to get home; wherever you live, keep your phone number and address up to date on the database where it is registered. In Spain, if you move to another region or the cat changes owner, you have to report it.
What is banned in Spain
Among other things, the law bans leaving any pet unsupervised for more than three days in a row, abandoning or mistreating it, and carrying out mutilations or permanent body modifications, which includes declawing; exceptions are justified veterinary needs and the small ear tip that marks neutered colony cats. It also bans selling cats in pet shops: only registered breeders may sell them, and commercial breeding without being registered is prohibited. To adopt or buy a cat, it must be identified.
Feral cat colonies
Under Spanish law, free-living cats tied to a particular place, which the law calls community cats, are not considered abandoned and cannot be removed or put down outside the cases the law provides for. Managing them is the job of town councils, through programmes based on TNR (trap, neuter, return), with a census, health monitoring and authorised carers. If you want to feed the cats in your area, ask your local authority how it is done there and who coordinates it: feeding on your own, without neutering or cleaning up, usually means more cats and more conflict with neighbours. Releasing your own cat into a colony is abandonment.
Fines, regions and local bylaws
The national law sets fines of €500 to €10,000 for minor offences, €10,001 to €50,000 for serious ones and €50,001 to €200,000 for very serious ones, but each Spanish region also has its own animal protection law and many town councils have a bylaw on keeping animals. These spell out the regional register, whether there is a local census, whether rabies vaccination is compulsory for cats in that region and the rules for colonies. Some parts of the national law are still awaiting implementing regulations, so it is worth checking the rules currently in force in your region. If you live outside Spain, your national and local rules are the ones that apply.
What does not apply to cat owners
Some of what has been said about the Spanish law only concerns dogs: the training course for owners, compulsory third party liability insurance and the 24-hour limit without supervision. For cats, the general limit is three days, although that does not mean it is fine to leave a cat alone that long; most need someone to drop in at least once a day. Third party liability insurance is not compulsory for a cat in Spain, but it costs little and covers damage to others, for example if it gets into the neighbour’s home and breaks something.
In Spain: a microchip registered in your name, neutering before six months, never more than three days unsupervised and no mutilations. Colonies are managed by town councils using TNR. Check your region’s law and your town’s bylaw too, and outside Spain, your own country’s rules.
Educational content from Michipedia. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.