Brussels 26.06.2024 Today, member states’ EU ambassadors – Coreper – agreed on the Council’s negotiating mandate on a proposal to improve the welfare of cats and dogs by setting minimum EU-wide rules for the first time ever.

Today, the EU shows that also the welfare of animals can be at the forefront of their policy making. Very many Europeans have a big heart for animals and this negotiating mandate clearly shows that. We are now laying a good foundation to further develop an animal policy at European level in the coming years.

Main elements of the Commission’s proposal:
The proposal aims to improve the welfare of cats and dogs that are kept by breeders, selling establishments, and shelters, while also improving consumer protection, ensuring fair competition and fighting illegal trade.

The proposal does not impact individual pet owners. However, anyone who wants to place a cat or a dog on the EU market will have to ensure that it is microchipped for traceability purposes.

The requirements in the proposal are intended as minimum standards to harmonise the EU market. If they wish, member states are allowed to maintain or introduce stricter rules.

Welfare principles:
The Council’s negotiating position maintains the main welfare principles proposed by the Commission:

breeding is regulated, with limits on frequency, and minimum and maximum age
certain breeding practices are prohibited, such as inbreeding (breeding between parents and offspring, between siblings and half siblings, and between grandparents and grandchildren); the Council position clarifies that inbreeding can nevertheless be used to preserve local breeds with a limited genetic pool
painful mutilations such as ear cropping, tail docking or the removal of claws are banned, unless they respond to a medical indication
enough clean and fresh water, sufficient food and adequate housing conditions must be provided
dogs must have daily access to an outdoor area or must be walked daily; the Council clarifies that this applies to dogs older than 12 weeks
Requirements for operators and establishments.

The Council has also kept provisions regarding the obligations of operators and establishments:

all cats and dogs must be microchipped and registered in a national database before they are sold or donated; all databases will be interoperable with the databases in other EU countries and will be accessible online
people taking care of cats or dogs must have a proper understanding of their behaviour and needs
establishments must ensure visits from veterinarians; the Council clarifies the conditions for these advisory welfare visits
when selling or donating cats or dogs, the person responsible for these animals has to raise awareness about responsible ownership
Main changes introduced by the Council
The Council’s negotiating mandate makes a series of improvements to the proposal to enhance the welfare of cats and dogs:

it clarifies that operators must not abandon cats or dogs
it bans the breeding of hybrids (the result of crossbreeding with a wild species)
female cats and dogs who have had two caesarean sections will not be used for breeding, to protect their health and welfare
cats and dogs with extreme traits should be excluded from breeding, to prevent passing these traits on to future generations if there is a high risk of detrimental effects on their welfare or on the welfare of their offspring
cats and dogs with extreme conformational traits or mutilations will be excluded from taking part in competitions, shows or exhibitions
Scope of the proposed regulation
Since some organisations, for instance NGOs, use foster homes to house abandoned, stray or unwanted cats and dogs, the Council decided to include foster homes within the scope of the regulation.

Authorisation of breeding establishments:
The original Commission proposal required breeding establishments that keep up to three female cats or dogs and that produce in total two litters or less per year to be authorised after an on-site inspection by competent authorities.

Since there are shortages of official veterinarians in the member states and to reduce the administrative burden, the Council has limited this requirement to establishments that produce more than five litters per year or that keep more than five female cats or dogs. Additionally, the Council’s mandate gives member states the possibility to allow establishments to get approval through distance communication.

Imports from outside the EU:
In line with the Commission’s proposal, imports will be subject to the same or equivalent standards. This will enhance consumer protection and ensure the traceability of cats and dogs.

The Council’s mandate differentiates between the import of cats and dogs for placing on the EU market and for non-commercial movements, aiming to prevent fraud and improve the traceability of dogs and cats.

For the former, the cat or dog will have to be registered in an EU database five working days after they enter the EU. In the initial proposal this was within 48 hours after arrival at their destination.

For the latter, the Council proposes the creation of a pet travellers’ database. This will allow member states to have an overview of non-commercial imports into the EU and thus be able to detect suspicious movements.

Data protection:
The Council also introduced provisions linked to data protection, to ensure the protection of personal data contained, for instance, in the databases of dogs and cats or in information transmitted by establishments.