Brazilian municipalities step up enforcement against animal abandonment

In the Amazonian city of Sena Madureira, Acre, the state public prosecutor filed a civil public action demanding the municipality adopt urgent animal‑protection measures. The request orders the city to present a detailed plan within 30 days for rescue, care and protection of stray dogs and cats, to set up a provisional shelter with veterinary services, and to establish a Center for Zoonoses Control within 180 days. It also calls for permanent vaccination campaigns, responsible adoption promotion and sterilisation programs to curb the growth of stray populations and prevent diseases such as rabies, leptospirosis and leishmaniasis.

In Valinhos, São Paulo, the municipal Department of Protection and Animal Welfare announced intensified inspections after two recent abandonment incidents involving a mother dog with eight puppies and four stray puppies found on a road. The cases were reported to the police, and the municipality filed police reports, activated the municipal civil guard and began reviewing surveillance footage to identify the perpetrators. Officials stressed that abandonment is a criminal offence under federal law 9.605/1998 and the stricter 2020 “Sansão” law, punishable by two to five years’ imprisonment, higher penalties if the animal dies, and fines.