Recently The Costa Rica Star has published on SENASA and Humane Society International partnering on animal welfare here in Costa Rica.

According to a Unimer survey, 73% of Costa Rican’s claim to own pets.

In 1994, the Law for Animal Welfare was established to maintain standards for the protection of animals. Since then, the National Animal Health Service, SENASA, has been protecting the rights of animals throughout Costa Rica.

There’s now a new bill filtering through the national legislature that will authorize SENASA, to issue licenses for people who have or want to have pets. Last month, the plan received the necessary affirmative majority of the legislators in the Commission of Government Administration, and if approved, will require pet owners to attend classes that will teach basic information about how to care for pets when they are puppies, when they are older, when they get sick as well as health issues requiring vaccinations and proper spaying and neutering procedures. Attendance and certification will be required prior to being granted a license for your pet.

Additionally, this new addendum to the Law for Animal Welfare, will establish that animals considered dangerous, cannot be kept by people convicted of crimes such as; murder, domestic violence, assault, trafficking, sexual offenses, conspiracy and theft.

Furthermore, the new bill establishes that the individual municipalities will need to provide centers for abandoned animals.

It’s likely that this new bill will pass in the legislature, however enforcement will be difficult due to the limited resources of SENASA.