A new proposed law in Belarus, aimed to improve protection of animals, will limit the number of pets people can have to not more than two per household.
The new law has been in the making for nearly 15 years, KP.by reported.
Activists of animal protection are not very happy with limitations on the number of animals per household.
For example, a single woman can only have either 2 cats, 2 dogs, or a dog and a cat. She will not be able to have a cat and two dogs.
Even if she gets married, the pair will only be allowed the same number of pets.
If a single woman who has 2 cats wants to move in together with a man who has 2 dogs, they would have to decide which 2 pets have to go, as they would not be allowed to keep all 4 of them — 2 animals per household is the proposed limit.
Pet owners are understandably concerned.
The animal protection activists are also unhappy that chipping pets has not been made compulsory: The owners can choose whether to spend money on a chip, which makes much easier to track owners, if the furry bundle of joy gets lots or runs away.
One Belarus woman, who shares her Minsk apartment with 9 cats and a dog, is not impressed. Oksana owns a 3-room apartment, and doesn’t see herself parting with any of her companions. “It is a violation of my rights! Would they also make a law how many kids people can have!” she complained.
In fact, China does have a law on how many children people can have. The number of kids had been limited to one until 29 October 2015, when it was announced that Chinese couples would be allowed to have two children. But it is still a limitation.
Other countries, too, have legislations limiting the number of pets per household.
Some details on the new animal protection law in Belarus:
- Owners will be required to register cats and dogs before they turn 4 months old.
- The registration plate will need to be attached to the collar.
- The dogs would not be allowed to appear without a leash and a muzzle in public places, except for puppies under 6 months old and small dogs shorter than 35 cm (13.7 inches).
Ladies are usually known to have more pets than gentlemen. In fact, there will be many Belarus women who have more than the allowable number of pets, who will be affected if the proposed legislation is accepted.
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The city that I live in, also has a law. In which we are only allowed up to 3 dogs in a household.
Just take your time
I like this law. Very often pet owners forget about their existence. I think that in the standard flats you can not normally contain more than two animals. Many animals disturb the neighbors, often there are no conditions for them to walk and to live.
Hi I think any law that restricts cat ownership is likely to save some native bird life. They cant be replaced.
What’s wrong that government? They’d better think about social issues, education, medicine, whatever. Suppose I have a vast three-storey cottage to contain my 18 cats so why can’t I?
Registration and plates are fine though. Helps managing astray animals.
This is rather sad. If the restriction is out of concern for the pets welfare, the government should allow those who exceed the limit to prove that they have the resources to properly care for them.
so whats the deal in Belarus??? is there a cat problem? here in Raglan there was a cat killer who killed several cats over a few years…there was an investigation by the police and everything…but no one was busted… the person just hated cats i guess…its not like they are a problem in town…but in the country they are a very big problem as they are much wilder and lethal hunters …in New Zealand the native animals are just birds and lizards and they have been getting a hard time from the introduced species. My cat Blindy catches rats but… Read more »
If animals treated very well there are no problems and limitations are not necessary
This must be a political issue, since it’s common in many ‘premium’ countries to register pets. Belarus tends to be one so much, it even decided to limit the amount of their cats and dogs, esp. owned by it’s women. Sounds ridiculous, as if their responsibility depends on the amount!
I think that there should be some pets number limitations in any country. We all have heard about cases when the neighbors we lowed for keeping a lot of pets something like five or ten ( I don’t remember the exact number). These animals urinated in the entrance each time they were getting out. Also they were making big noise while the owner was working in his office. As a veterinarian, I can say that it is impossible to provide the proper care, vaccination etc to pets in case they are more than two. Money will not be enough even.… Read more »
Irina,
Yes, if people don’t control their pets and it creates a problem for neighbours, definitely regulations may be needed. It’s just not clear what women and men in Belarus are going to do with the pets that they already own?