Bucharest City Hall wants to launch pet census this year

A census of the animals with owner/legal holder in Bucharest could be carried out beginning this year, according to a draft decision put up for public debate on the Bucharest City Hall’s website.

The Animal Surveillance and Protection Authority (ASPA) would be in charge of organizing and conducting the census, and the information would be included in the register of animals with owner/legal holder in Bucharest, a database also managed by ASPA, according to local Agerpres.

During the census, the owners of the animals are obliged to declare them, so that they can be included in the register. Gathering the information would take a maximum of two years from the moment the decision comes into force.

The project also provides fines of between RON 400 and RON 800 for those who refuse to provide the necessary data or give incomplete or incorrect data to those carrying out the census.

According to the approval report, there has never been a pet census in Romania so far and the authorities have nothing but estimates at the moment. It is believed that there are about 11 million pets in the country, of which 4 million are dogs and 4.2 million are cats. A study conducted in 2015 showed that 48% of Romanians in the urban area own pets. In Bucharest it is estimated that one out of three families has a pet.

According to the same source, the census planned in Bucharest aims to create a database on the number of animals with legal owner, to keep breeding under control, to prevent animal abandonment, and to make owners more responsible.

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