Respect for EU animal welfare standards, with reference to the excessive euthanasia of stray animals in Romania

Subject: Respect for EU animal welfare standards, with reference to the excessive euthanasia of stray animals in Romania

On 12 August 2024, 60 dogs were brutally put down within the space of an hour at the public animal shelter in Târgu Jiu, Romania. This incident raises serious questions as to whether Romanian and EU rules on animal welfare – and especially the legal conditions applicable to euthanasia – are being respected.

Can the Commission clarify the following points:

1. Does the mass euthanasia of these dogs comply with EU standards and does the Commission view such actions as being legal in the light of EU standards?

2. What measures does the Commission recommend should be taken to ensure that the euthanasia of animals in the Member States is used only as a last resort, in strict compliance with legal and ethical standards?

3. Given that the Regulation on new rules on the welfare of dogs and cats has started on its legislative iter, how does the Commission view the way that EU animal welfare principles are being applied in animal shelters in Romania?

Submitted: 19.8.2024

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission (11 September 2024)

1. There are currently no animal welfare rules in place at EU level that regulate the euthanasia of dogs and cats.

2. In view of the answer to question 1, the Commission has no recommendations on the use of euthanasia in dogs and cats. The Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) contains a chapter providing guidance on the use of euthanasia in the context of dog population management (1).

3. The Commission has adopted a proposal for a regulation on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceabilit y (2). The proposal includes some provisions on certain specific aspects of euthanasia, but not on euthanasia in the context of dog population management. The proposal has entered the ordinary legislative procedure and is now before the co-legislators. The issue of welfare conditions of euthanasia of dogs in shelters is currently under the responsibility of Member States.

1 ∙ ⸱ Terrestrial Code Online Access — WOAH — World Organisation for Animal Health https://www.woah.org/en/what-we-do/standards/codes-and-

manuals/terrestrial-code-online-access/?id=169&L=1&htmfile=chapitre_aw_stray_dog.htm 2 ∙ ⸱ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability, COM/2023/769 final.