The number of animals taken into care by Brussels shelters has fallen steadily since 2019, the Brussels Minister for Animal Welfare Bernard Clerfayt announced on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion of World Animal Day, the minister said that there are still too many cats in the region. He said that legislation on the sterilisation and identification of felines would be tightened to address the issue.
Still, the number of animals in the Capital Region's nine shelters is falling: in 2022 they too in a total of 5,070 animals – a 40% drop compared with 2019 (8,369 animals).
“I am delighted with this drop. Fewer animals in shelters means fewer stray, abandoned or seized animals. It’s also good news for the shelters, which can offer better living conditions to their boarders,” Bernard Clerfayt stated in a press release.
A new animal shelter in Gent, June 2019. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
The majority of animals housed in shelters are cats (56%), followed by birds (21%) and dogs (18%).
Although the number of felines taken in by shelters is at its lowest since 2015, there were still 2,833 in 2022. Of these, 80% were adopted. While only 20% of cats taken in by refuges are sterilised, the modified law will now require all cats transiting through shelters to be sterilised. Kittens must also be registered with identification tags.
“Sterilisation has been compulsory since 2018 and identification only concerned young cats. But you can't have one without the other. Identification is just as important and allows cats to be returned to their owners. Sterilisation and identification are therefore the best ways of effectively combating cat overpopulation.”
