In Spain, the government is currently working on a new animal welfare bill to obviate the intrusion of invasive species.
The new bill shall define all criteria that must be fulfilled in order to be declared as pet (e.g. be on the list of permitted species). The list of prohibited animals will contain some very popular pets like mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rabbits, tortoises, parakeets, parrots, lovebirds, snakes, spiders, iguanas, chameleons, geckos and birds coming from other countries.
According to the draft bill, rabbits are environmentally dangerous since around 1.5 million live in Spanish households. Also the very popular parakeers will not be allowed to keep as a pet any longer because they do not originally come from Spain.
Last summer, the government has already agreed on the draft bill, now the parliament has to give its permission. According to media reports, the new law will enters into force next year.
Advertisement
