The Public Entertainment and Pet Animal Service of the General Secretariat of the Interior, Emergencies and Civil Protection, dependent on the Ministry of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, has opened a total of 433 sanctioning files against owners in 2023. of pets in the province of Córdoba. This means that it is the Andalusian province with the most fines for this reason.
In Andalusia as a whole, last year 2,046 disciplinary proceedings were opened against pet owners. By provinces, the one that accumulates the greatest number of files is Córdobawith 433, followed by Seville (343), Granada (342), Almería (253), Málaga (229), Cádiz (195), Huelva (128) and Jaén (123), according to 2023 data offered by the Ministry by Antonio Sanz to questions from Europa Press.
The sanctions throughout Andalusia last year are 23.6% more than in 2018 (1,655). Of these more than 2,000 sanctioning processes, 1,223 (almost 60% of the total) affect potentially dangerous dogs due to issues such as license control, insurance and safety measures such as leash and muzzle; The rest (823) correspond to pets and issues related to surveillance, their registration and mistreatment.
Violations of Law 11/2003, of November 24, on the protection of animals can be punished with fines ranging from 75 to 500 euros for minor offenses; from 501 to 2,000 euros for serious cases and from 2,001 to 30,000 euros for very serious cases.
Thus, not having the required license for potentially dangerous dogs can lead to fines of up to 15,025 euros; Being this type of animal in public places without a muzzle or not on a chain could result in a fine of up to 2,404 euros; not keeping the animal in good hygienic-sanitary conditions, up to 2,000 euros, and permanently keeping dogs or cats on terraces, balconies, roof terraces, storage rooms, basements, patios and similar or vehicles, a minimum fine of 10,001 euros.
Andalusia currently has 2,291,365 identified pets, which is 1.8% more than in 2022 (2,250,845). This increase, which is added to the one already registered with respect to 2021, when 2,220,719 pets were officially registered, “confirms that pre-pandemic numbers are recovering,” when there were 2,310,248 pets in Andalusia – to date of 2018–.
Currently, the Andalusian community has 18.05% of the animals identified in Spain and 2.65% in Europe. In terms of species, cats have increased the most, going from 247,655 to 282,814, which is equivalent to 14.2% more than in 2022. However, dogs continue to be the preferred pet for Andalusians, highlighting potentially dangerous dogs, which amount to 72,089 euros.
Málaga is the province that has the most dogs of this type, with 18,215, followed by Seville (14,194), Cádiz (10,508), Granada (8,090), Almería (6,872), Córdoba (5,300), Huelva (5,045) and Jaén (3,865). ). The most numerous breed is the American Staffordshire Terrier (25,693), followed by the Pit Bull Terrier (15,291) and the American Bully (9,283).
