Shelters try to avoid this type of present by taking precautions. Around the holidays, the La Louvière SPA postpones adoptions until January. “We ask a lot of questions to understand the motivations. People don’t realize that an animal is not a gift. We have a lot of requests by phone and email to adopt a dog and give it for Christmas”indicates Floriane Brackx, director of the ASBL Sans Collier. “There must probably be even more demand from breeders. But we know that people will last two weeks before bringing it back.”
Dropping out in a few weeks
New masters can quickly become disillusioned when they become fully aware of the responsibilities and consequences that come with them. “In the weeks and months that come, they will want to abandon the animal because they will see that it needs to chew, to move and that toilet training will be difficult.predicts the president of the SPA. “The most difficult times are the first 18 months. Making a mistake in training a dog is not forgiving.”
From January, the first requests to abandon this “unwanted” or “regretted” gift will appear. “We had around ten.”remembers Sébastien de Jonge, director of operations at Gaia and former director of the ASBL Sans Collier. To combat this phenomenon of rash purchasing followed by abandonment, Gaia advocates for a delay between the moment we meet the animal and the moment we acquire it.
“A defeat”
The shelters are constantly at saturation and receive around thirty calls per week to drop off the animal at their home. Faced with this perpetual tension, the recent cancellation of a Walloon decree has the effect of a bomb.
“It’s going backwards. We need to stop seeing the animal as an object. Putting it next to kibble and games is not a good thing and will not help”reacts Floriane Brackx.
On the side of the Walloon Union for Animal Protection (UWPA), we do not hide our horror. “It’s a defeat for us on fairly progressive measures for animal welfare and which made it possible to guarantee the quality and competence of breeders”says Gaëtan Sgualdino, its president. “We are returning to more retrograde legislation with much less restrictive standards.”
Keeping domestic animals, the new legislation which worries in Wallonia: “16m² minimum for a dog, that’s more than a child in a crèche!”
You no longer need to be an approved breeder to sell an animal. The limitation on breeds raised is also jumping, as are the new minimum space standards depending on the size of the animal. No more mandatory training for approved animal keepers either. “A new text is being prepared by Walloon Minister-President of Animal Welfare Adrien Dolimont. This is an opportunity to go further, such as ensuring that the person who buys the animal remains the owner.”specifies Sébastien de Jonge. “Politicians must act quickly because people who have incurred costs to comply with the new standards could turn against the Region and we hope that breeders will not rush to look for dogs in the East.”
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