The disclosure by “Ethnos” of the ministerial decision issued by the deputy minister of the interior, Stelios Petsas, led to a “war” of announcements between the official opposition and the newly established Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals.
With this decision, the way to avoid mandatory sterilization is opened for companion animals as long as their owner pay a fee of 150 euros for sending their genetic material to the special base.
It is recalled that the law, which was passed by the government in 2021, but has not been implemented until now, provides that the owner of a companion animal must sterilize the dominant animal if it is dog or cat, within 6 months of its acquisition if the animal is over one year old.
In the case of obtaining an animal under one year of age, sterilization should be done within the first six months of the completion of the first year.
However, if the pet owner chooses not to neuter it, they must send a genetic material (DNA) sample to the Pet Genetic Material Storage and Analysis Laboratory (EFAGYZZS).
For the establishment and start-up of the Laboratory, the Medical Biological Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens receives a one-time grant from the state budget of up to 2 million euros.
Pets: What to do
In order to receive, register and preserve the genetic material, the owner of the companion animal submits a one-time electronic bill of 150 euros for each companion animal, while the owner is obliged to pay the veterinarian, in addition, the costs of sending the sample of genetic material, the which in no case can exceed 10 euros.
The disclosure by “Ethnos” of the ministerial decision issued by the deputy minister of the interior, Stelios Petsas, led to a “war” of announcements between the official opposition and the newly established Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals.
In the case of obtaining an animal under one year of age, sterilization should be done within the first six months of the completion of the first year.
However, if the owner of the animal chooses not to sterilize it, he must send a sample of genetic material (DNA) to the Laboratory for the Storage and Analysis of Genetic Material for Companion Animals (EFAGYZS). For the establishment and start-up of the Laboratory, the Medical Biological Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens receives a one-time grant from the state budget of up to 2 million euros.
In order to receive, register and preserve the genetic material, the owner of the companion animal submits a one-time electronic bill of 150 euros for each companion animal, while the owner is obliged to pay the veterinarian, in addition, the costs of sending the sample of genetic material, the which in no case can exceed 10 euros.
The legislation provides for the retention of the genetic material of each animal in the database for a period of 12 years.
The aim of the measure is the gradual management and reduction of the population of stray animals, which are currently estimated at around 3 million, and the avoidance of their abandonment through the identification of their parents.
Essentially, the sample of untamed domesticated animals will be maintained in the Laboratory for a 12-year period so that when abandoned or abused puppies and kittens are found, they can be matched with their four-legged parents and the State can be led to the owner who abandoned or abused them.
If newborn animals are found from a mother who has an owner, then he is prosecuted for a felony and faces fines of 30,000 – 50,000 euros per animal.
As the Special Secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals, Marsa Dimopoulou, points out in her post, it is only a matter of time before the period of suspension of the compulsory sterilization of companion animals that have an owner expires.
“EFAGYZS will soon start its operation. A relevant official announcement of the opening will be made by the Ministry of the Interior through the issuance of a relevant deed so that all pet owners and all co-competent bodies are informed. Veterinarians will also have special information.”
It should be noted that the law provides for the imposition of a fine of 1,000 euros in the event that the owner fails to sterilize the animal or to send genetic material. In addition to the fine, the owner is granted a three-month deadline to sterilize or send a sample of the animal’s genetic material. In the event that this deadline is also missed, the fine is imposed again.
Pets: Scandalous and vengeful scratch
For a 150 euro bribe to thousands of people who take care of pets, SYRIZA speaks in a joint announcement of the sectors of Rural Development, Interiors, Environment & Energy.
He recalls that in November 2018, at a ND event, the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, stated that the ownership of an animal cannot be a tax presumption and “he was categorically opposed to any imposition of a fee on animal owners who have not proceeded to sterilize their animals . Today the ND government imposes a pre-election fee of 150 euros on thousands of people”.
The official opposition celebrates the fact that the ND government, alone, voted for a framework for the protection of companion animals with a concerted reaction from the opposition and the competent bodies involved, while two years later there were successive amendments to the law and extensions upon extensions.
He speaks of a waste of money as – as he states – Greece already had a National Register of Companion Animals on the standards of France’s online database (i-cad), which the government, instead of upgrading, “chose to waste almost 2.5 million euros for creating it from scratch”.
He calls the 150 euro fee for sending genetic material “a scandalous rip-off” and the measure “unscientific and vindictive for certain social groups”, adding that it confuses veterinary genetics with veterinary forensic genetics, proceeding to impose fines and penalties based on genetic material without there must be a similar precedent in another country or scientific documentation.
In its announcement, SYRIZA does not leave idle the financing of a laboratory “with a non-existent research project in the specific field, for which it has in fact secured in advance a one-off 2 million euros of state funding”.
Companion animals: Special Secretariat for Animal Protection – Obvious lies from SYRIZA
In a strong response, which was posted on the page of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Companion Animals, Mrs. Dimopoulou accused SYRIZA of “obvious lies”: “It could be understood that some people do not know that they are reading a Ministerial Decision. But not knowing how to read and understand a law while they were the ruling party? This announcement could be funny, another fake news, if it did not endanger animals that cannot defend themselves. Firstly, because it has no trace of truth and secondly, because the person who prepared the announcement in question does not (want to) know and does not (want to) understand laws and ministerial decisions. The hunt for votes has begun.”
Mrs. Dimopoulou recalls the Tsironi law on companion animals, which had caused a wave of reactions from animal-loving associations stating that “SYRIZA’s only connection with the issues concerning the well-being of animals is that it has the memory of a goldfish”.
He clarifies that the parable does not refer to the strays that one may take care of, but to tamed companion animals. Regarding the procedure, he notes that the owners must choose whether to sterilize their dog or cat or whether to send a sample of genetic material by paying the fee of 150 euros, more than 55% of which is intended for actions exclusively for the care of stray animals.
He also emphasizes that under the law at least those who belong to sensitive and vulnerable groups are entitled to free sterilization, vaccinations and marking of their animals (disabled persons, unemployed registered with the OAED, living on the minimum guaranteed income, single-parent families, three children, many children), as well as all herding dogs (shepherd dogs) regardless of the financial situation of the owner, while exclusively for them there is also the option, as an alternative to sterilization, to send a sample of genetic material.
“We not only don’t tax anyone who cares for companion animals but we are here to stand with them, to try with them and stop being the country with the sad first places in animal abuse and more than 3 million stray dogs, according to the researchers of the AUTH, and the countless millions of stray cats”, he points out, concluding that “We are here and we will try to be here again because for us, in practice, no stray animal, no abused animal is a priority”.
Source: www.diaforetiko.gr
