Figures from the GNR’s SEPNA animal protection brigade, published by newspaper Público, show that by 15 December 2014 the force was receiving an average of 507 complaints a month, an average that is five times higher than the number registered before the law change.
The GNR said of those cases 422 had been resolved, resulting in 58 fines and a dozen criminal charges, one of which is ongoing in court.
The new law stipulates that “anyone who, without reasonable cause, inflicts pain, suffering or any other physical harm to a companion animal [pet] is punishable with imprisonment up to one year or the equivalent of up to 120 days’ fine.”
In the event of abandonment the law foresees “prison sentences of up to six months or 120 days’ fine”, and, should the neglect result in the death of a pet or “the loss of an important organ or limb or serious and permanent impediment of its ability to walk, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment up to two years or a fine of up to 240 days.”
All animals being kept or intended to be kept by man, in the home, for man’s entertainment and company, are considered pets and covered by this law.
However, according to the GNR, so far the heaviest sentence has not been applied to any of the perpetrators.
Major Marco Cruz of the GNR’s press office told Público that while investigations are ongoing the animals are removed from their owners and held in shelters such as municipal kennels.
Almost half of the complaints came from the Lisbon area (203), followed by Setúbal (84) Oporto (73), Faro (27), Aveiro (22), Braga (15), Leiria (14), Coimbra (12), Santarém (11), Madeira (Funchal, 11), Viseu (6), Portalegre, Vila Real and Beja, each with five, Viana do Castelo, Évora, Guarda and the Azores with two each, and Castelo Branco, with two complaints.