Cat Animal Welfare Protection in Mexico

Cat Mexico
Cat in Mexico photo by ·júbilo·haku·


Cat animal welfare protection in Mexico
is not too good. Some would say it is poor or worse. Why?

The animal protection laws of Mexico have been said to be comparable to EU animal welfare law. It is comprehensive and the penalties are tough enough. Plus Mexico has entered into international treaties on trade in animal species.

Yet Sonora Market teams with animals for sale including rare parrots. Some animals, perhaps many, are endangered either formally under IUCN and/or protected under CITES (Mexico is a contracting party to CITES). But police fail to enforce laws and international agreements and it would take much more in the way of resources to prevent it happening. Perhaps this is why in part, the police do not enforce the law.

Mexico has a reputation for failing to enforce their comprehensive animal welfare laws.

Here are some key laws concerning animal welfare in Mexico:

  • General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA, 1988)
  • The Regulation to the Federal Fisheries Law (LP, 1992)
  • The General Law of Wildlife (LVS, 2000)
  • The Federal Law for Animal Hygiene (LFSA, 1993)

The good intentions are clear. The LGEEPA states at Chap. 2, Art. 79 “the development of an honorable and respectful treatment for animal species in order to avoid cruelty against them”. There are plenty of other examples.

It would seem that there is umbrella federal law which is added to and adapted to the 31 sovereign states. Mexico is a union of states. This adds a complexity to managing implementation.

In addition to the legislation there are norms which are standards and guidelines for good practice in the treatment of animals.

The “legal set up is good”. It falls down because of poor implementation, which is due to a range of problems:

  • poverty
  • poor education
  • organized crime in trafficking of wild species
  • the scale of the problem – the large number of wild species
  • funding
  • official corruption
  • the comprehensiveness of the regulations (overambitious scope of the legislation)
  • lack of pressure on the government from the electorate
  • not using the willingness of the electorate to assist in animal welfare

At the heart of good cat and animal welfare law is a ground swell of opinion from the electorate, which in turn is created by education/knowledge. This combined with a truly democratic government and proper funding combined with a patient and persistent approach will see animal welfare in Mexico improve significantly.

Cat animal welfare protection in Mexico – Source: “Like Butter Scraped over Too Much Bread”: Animal Protection Policy in Mexico Emma R. Norman and Norma Contreras Hernández University of the Americas, Puebla

But these are my words and views.
From cat animal welfare protection in Mexico to Cats and the Law

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