New Finnish petition seeks leash law for outdoor cats
A petition has been submitted to one of the EU parliaments, proposing a ban on allowing domestic cats to be outside without a lead. According to this initiative, cats would not be permitted to venture beyond the owner's property without proper supervision.
The authors of the petition are advocating for a change in Finnish law regarding cat care, proposing that the definition of animal neglect should also include situations where cats are found outside their owners' properties. They want the new law to prohibit keeping cats outdoors without a lead, even if they are in the owner's garden.
In their opinion, cats that leave the property without supervision should be treated as abandoned. According to "Interia", the authors of the petition want this ban to also cover situations where cats are in their own garden, if this area is located in a densely populated area, where cats could pose a threat or cause problems.
It's worth noting that in Finland, the law already requires dogs to be on leads during outdoor walks, and the proposal is to extend this requirement to cats.
Currently, in Finland, when citizens notice cats roaming outside properties, they can report this based on animal welfare regulations. However, according to the authors of the petition, these regulations are not sufficient, and the time required for the authorities to address the reports is too lengthy.
Finns want a ban on letting cats roam free
Therefore, the initiators are calling for changes in the law that would more specifically define that allowing cats to roam freely would be considered a crime. The petition states that such an amendment would aim to "clarify the regulations and clearly criminalise allowing cats to roam freely."
According to the authors of the petition, free-roaming cats in Finland kill millions of wild animals each year, leading to significant ecological and financial losses. They emphasise that although the law currently allows for reporting such cases, there are still individuals who irresponsibly ignore their obligations towards their cats, citing unclear regulations.
According to "Interia", the petition was submitted as part of a civic initiative that allows eligible Finns to propose new laws and changes to existing regulations. For the initiative to reach parliament, it must gather at least 50,000 signatures within six months.
Although at the beginning of December, the number of signatures was around 35,000, in recent days, support for the initiative has grown rapidly, and ultimately the number of signatures exceeded the required threshold of 50,000.
