3,000 dogs abandoned in Malaga in 2016

THREE THOUSAND  dogs were abandoned in Malaga last year, the city council has reported.

Although the number is half of that registered back in 2011, it remains too high to allow the municipal animal pound to fulfil the pledge to not put down any animals, explained Environmental Sustainability councillor Raul Jimenez.

In 2016, the pound had to put down 547 dogs, half the number for 2011 and 14 per cent lower than in 2015. 

Adoptions on the other hand are on the up, with 2016 registering a total of 863, 12 per cent more than the previous year. This, Jimenez said, is due to increased awareness of the need to give abandoned pets a second chance.

Capture, sterilise and release programmes underway in the city seem to be doing their job, the councillor said, as municipal services collected 775 stray cats from the streets during 2016, 24 per cent less than in 2011.

This allowed the number of cats which had to be put down at the pound to also drop to 555, 16 per cent lower than 2015 and 38 per cent lower than 2011, Jimenez stressed.