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DRAFT OPINION (COM(2023)0769 – C90443/2023 – 2023/0447(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability

ENVI-PA-766664

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety · Rapporteur: Manuela Ripa

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This draft opinion proposes amendments to a regulation on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats, covering breeding, keeping, and placing on the market. It extends obligations to all breeders, bans pet shop sales, strengthens identification and registration, and calls for an EU list of suitable pet species.

Committee position. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the responsible committee to take into account its amendments, which strengthen welfare and traceability rules.

Key points

  1. Extends the scope to all dogs and cats, including those bred or kept, not just placed on the market, and removes exemptions for small breeders.
  2. Defines breeding, selling establishments, foster homes, and pounds, and includes households in breeding establishments.
  3. Requires operators and animal caretakers to not mistreat or abandon dogs or cats, and to prevent reproduction in shelters.
  4. Mandates annual unannounced visits by official veterinarians to establishments, and approval for breeding and selling establishments producing over three litters or keeping over three bitches or queens.
  5. Prohibits keeping dogs or cats in pet shops, and requires identification of all dogs and cats with microchips, with registration within two working days.
  6. Requires online platforms to enable sellers to comply with identification and registration obligations, and establishes a public online verification system.
  7. Requires dogs and cats entering the EU to be identified and registered in their country of origin or at the border.
  8. Allows member states to maintain or adopt stricter national rules on welfare and traceability.
  9. Requires the Commission to publish monitoring reports every three years and evaluate the regulation after seven years, including a possible maximum breeding age.
  10. Calls for a list of animal species allowed as pets, based on an impact assessment, and for financial penalties reflecting economic advantage or turnover in fraud cases.

Who is affected

  • Breeders, including small-scale and household breeders, must register and comply with welfare rules.
  • Pet shops are prohibited from selling dogs and cats.
  • Shelters and foster homes must prevent reproduction and ensure animals are neutered before release.
  • Online platforms must facilitate compliance with identification and registration rules.
  • Importers of dogs and cats must ensure identification and registration before entry.

Figures and deadlines

  • Shelters or foster homes keeping fifteen dogs or less or twenty cats or less are exempt from certain rules.
  • Identification and registration of dogs applies from 4 years after entry into force; for cats, 10 years.
  • Approval for breeding establishments applies from 5 years after entry into force.
  • Monitoring reports every 3 years, evaluation after 7 years.