The Commission would like to refer to its reply to questions E-009002/2011 and E-002062/2012(1) which address the issue of stray dogs and dog population management.

The European Convention for the protection of pet animals is not part of the EU legislation. The way Member States implement national legislation on these matters remains under their sole competence.

However, within the framework of the EU strategy for the protection and welfare of animals 2012-2015, the Commission decided to perform a study on the welfare of dogs and cats involved in commercial practices, aiming at evaluating if these concerns reflect a general situation in the EU. The results of the study will be available by the end of 2014.

In addition, the Commission organised the first European Conference on ‘The welfare of dogs and cats’(2) to collect information on this issue, in Brussels on 28 October 2013.

The Commission considers that progress on this issue can be better achieved by improved enforcement of the current legislation in the Member States concerned, and by increased awareness of all actors involved in the protection of pet animals.

(1) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/parliamentary-questions.html (2) http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/information_sources/ahw_events_en.htm