Small villages across Almería will now have access to an official dog catcher paid for by the Diputación (county council) after a contract worth €60,000 was awarded this week to a local company for this service.
The company will provide an emergency 24hour service for the capture of dangerous or hurt animals, and a 48 hour response time otherwise. The requests for assistance will go through the relevant townhall or local police service.
Townhalls are obliged to catch stray animals in their area of influence, but for many smaller villages this is a cost they cannot pay.
Animals caught will be put up for adoption and rehoming through local animal charities and official channels “where-ever possible”.
A dog is abandoned every three minutes in Spain according to a recent government survey.
The problem will not go away
. The Spanish man will not concede to neutering whether that is a macho point or financial. Animals have a purpose, when this stops they have to fend for themselves. Poor animales!.