As the saying goes, "better late than never." And in our country, things are finally starting to change for pets. At ARISTOPET, we are very happy to be able to write these lines. We think it's one of the best pieces of news to kick off the year.
A few weeks ago, the Congress of Deputies unanimously approved the change in the legal status of animals. This means animals are no longer considered things (something absolutely surreal in anyone's eyes), and will start to be considered living beings, endowed with sensitivity.
Animals have achieved the impossible: a proposal put forward by one party has received all the necessary parliamentary support to be able to amend the Civil Code, the Civil Procedure Law, and the Mortgage Law.
This reform was long overdue, due to the inconsistencies between the Criminal Code and the Civil Code. While the former distinguished since 2013 between damage to pets and damage to things, the latter continued to ignore that animals are living beings with their own sensitivity... and considered them "movable property." This was absolutely paradoxical, considering that at a European level, Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognizes that "animals are sentient beings."
How did their "objectification" affect pets?
Until now, animals living in Spain were "things." Or, in other words, "movable property." This means they could be seized, like a vehicle, an apartment, or a work of art. And they could also constitute part of an inheritance, based on their economic value.
In cases of divorce or family breakdown, there was a legal void regarding what to do with a pet. There were no regulations that could be applied to determine who would keep the pet.
Therefore, pets were in a legislative limbo, reduced to simple merchandise with a certain monetary value.
What will change once the reform is implemented?
Fortunately, now that the reform is underway, after its admission for processing, all of this will change. Finally, we are included in the group of countries that have already changed the legal consideration of animals. Countries such as Portugal, whose case we talked about here a few months ago, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and France.
The proposal put forward by the popular group advocates for describing animals in positive terms, similar to the civil codes of our neighbors in France and Portugal. This means, among other things, that they are differentiated from people and other forms of life, such as plants. They will be given a different status to be more protected. They will have more rights, and therefore their owners will also have more obligations.
When the reform comes into force, the Mortgage Law will have been amended, so that animals can no longer be mortgaged. As well as the Civil Procedure Law, so that animals can no longer be seized in the event of non-payment by their owners. Provisions will also be established to determine the custody regime for companion animals, in the event that a couple of ARISTOPARENTS definitively end their cohabitation.
So, as you can see, we are starting 2018 with very good news. And we are sure that this is just the beginning!