Uncertainty and Controversy Surrounding Dog Liability Insurance Requirements

Waiting for development

However, since College of Veterinarians of Madrid try to downplay its importance: “It is not a problem,” the spokesperson for the Official College of Veterinarians of Madrid, Manuel Lázaro, tells RTVE.es.

“What any law has is first a text and then, depending on its complexity, it has a regulatory development“he insists. This is the case of the Animal Welfare Law, little by little the different aspects that could not be included in the original text will be developed and “they have the capacity to be able to execute it,” summarizes the spokesperson.

And it’s not something strange. In fact, “It is something natural in a law of this caliber”, explains Lazaro. “It is very ambitious, very broad, very long, it deals with many aspects of animal welfare and it is logical that it cannot go into the details,” he specifies. And there “what is done is that many of these aspects are subsequently developed in a regulatory manner.”

Law in diapers

But not all schools see it the same way. “This law, like all laws, must be a tool that is effective for its use and unfortunately there are 27 articles that are yet to be developed in regulations. and one of them is dog insurance,” says the president of the College of Veterinarians of Seville, Santiago Sánchez-Apellániz García, to RTVE.es.

Until now only dogs of potentially dangerous breeds (PPP) had to be insured, something that the group chaired by Santiago shared. However, now they are not so clear. “In the case at hand now, all dogs must have insurance and We do not believe that it is especially necessary for a person who has a Chihuahua or who has a Yorkshire Terrier at home to have insurance.“, says the president of the College.

A law, for many, in its infancy and “technically quite improvable”confirms Sánchez-Apellániz. They regret that the veterinary community was not taken into account when drafting the law: “It was created in a hurry at the end of the last legislature and did not have sufficient veterinary knowledge either.”

The controversy, on the table

Given this scenario, controversy is served, despite the fact that In communities such as Madrid, La Rioja and the Basque Country, this type of insurance was already mandatory. Most will accept the new law with resignation when it comes into force. This is the case of Sara. “I believe that many dogs like mine would not need to have insurance,” she tells RTVE.es, while stating that she understands and respects the measure.

At first, he I was worried about assuming the cost of the insurance, but that is now behind us. “In the end it is always better to prevent, and although they are domesticated, they are animals and you never know what can happen,” the owner clarifies about her beagle.

But others also doubt. “How does having liability insurance improve my dog’s well-being?” asks Sergio. His balance leans towards insuring the dog, “to comply with the law and because it is cheaper for me to pay for the insurance than a possible fine,” but the young man does not understand “the measure at all.”

And the balance of a minority leans toward resounding and categorical opposition to abiding by the law, even with the consequences that this will entail. As in the case of Manuel: “I don’t make sense of it and I think that no one is going to check the documentation dog by dog.”

Something practically impossible confirms to RTVE.es a municipal police officer from Galicia: “We can’t stop all people with dogs“There are no troops for that.” They will do so in the event of incidents or with some routine control such as those used until now with the PPPand remember that not complying with the law is always a risk.

Insurance keys

What is clear is that the concern is there. In Rastreator, the leading online insurance comparator in Spain, Searches for this type of insurance have increased more than 41% in the last monthspokesperson Nuria Val tells RTVE.es.

In the absence of knowing the fine print of this regulation“What people are doing a lot is gossip, looking for the options there are and what the price would be,” says Val. Since the law came out, There has been a lot of talk about the implementation of the measure, but little has been said about its cost and that has upset many owners..

And some are already breathing a sigh of relief. Race, age, weight, whether it is adopted or not, are factors that influence its cost. But in the end, civil liability insurance is an average of €35 or €38 per yearwhich is not a very high figure compared to other insurance policies,” details the Rastreator spokesperson.

DFrom the portal they are forceful: “What the new Animal Protection and Welfare Law requires is the contracting of civil liability insuranceVal insists that you don’t need to have any other type of coverage: “basic liability insurance would be sufficient.”

But they do consider that It is a good time to consider adding other insurance. “Whenever you go to the vet, it is usually a high expense, so if you go at least three times a year the premium is already worth it,” explains the spokesperson.

With or without additions, the law is clear: in case you do not have said insurance once it comes into force, the owner of the animal may be fined. And the Sanctions range from a first warning to fines of 500 to 10,000 eurosdepending on the seriousness of the facts.