In an expanded political strategy to combat trafficking and illegal trade in pet animals, the NAP Parliamentary Group – People-Nature Animals – today presented a legislative initiative urging the Portuguese Government to, within the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and in the exercise of its respective powers of representation in relations with other institutions of the European Union, to encourage the European Commission to create a single database for the whole of the European Union for the identification and registration of animals ensuring greater control and traceability of the movement of these animals within Europe.

In recent years there have been several complaints relating to the transport of pet animals between Countries of the European Union and to third countries, related to illegal trade and the adoption of animals, fuelling suspicions about their destination and the welfare guarantees of their conditions of transport and accommodation, a reality that reaches about 46,000 dogs per year within the European Union." This is a business that moves many thousands of euros and reaches several million in a single company that illegally trades the animals. The illegal action occurs because of the use of the legislative voids that exist, in the lack of uniformity of the legislation of the different Member States and the weakness of the control mechanisms. Apart from anti-economic and public health offences, we must not forget that animal welfare and the need to strengthen their protection in different contexts are at stake. The creation of a single database, integrating the different national systems of the Member States, is a first step towards strengthening control mechanisms for the movement of animals in Europe and contributing to their greater protection", warns Inês de Sousa Real, leader of the Nap Parliamentary Group. While recognising since 2015 the existence of an illegal commercial market for dogs and cats, the European Commission has not yet accepted the European Parliament Resolution of 12 February 2020 on the protection of the eu internal market and consumer rights and the negative consequences of the illegal trade in pet animals. Illegal trade is correlated with other illegal activities, such as illegal experimentation, organ trafficking, blood banks, among other purposes, which clearly call into question animal welfare. The weaknesses that the gaps or lack of uniformity of the different legal systems generate have as a consequence a minimum risk of recognition for those involved and who seek to obtain, through animals, financial income without looking at means. The party also wants the Government to promote through the European Commission the regulation of the movement of non-commercial pet animals within Europe and to foreign countries, with a view to strengthening their welfare during transport and the mechanisms for monitoring these movements as a way of combating illegal trafficking.