Lawmaker pushes for dog and cat census to improve animal care

By THE STAR STAFF

Rep. Víctor Parés Otero, who chairs the Government Committee in the island House of Representatives, is seeking to create a census of dogs and cats in Puerto Rico with the goal of developing strategies to reduce animal abandonment, support nonprofit organizations that care for castaway or runaway pets, and improve veterinary services, among other objectives.

“In Puerto Rico, one out of every three households has a pet, mainly dogs and/or cats. We are a society of ‘animal lovers,’ yet we all recognize that there is a problem with animals being abandoned on our streets,” the San Juan District 4 legislator said. “We need to find new strategies that allow us to access funding sources to address this situation. For that, it is vital that we create a census of dogs and cats in Puerto Rico. We will be calling a meeting to outline the parameters for how this animal population will be surveyed.”

Parés will establish a working committee for the census, which will include representatives from the Mayors Federation and Mayors Association, and the Canine Federation of Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo and Rep. Pedro Julio “Pelle” Santiago, and officials from the departments of Health and Natural & Environmental Resources. Members of nonprofit organizations working with animals and the Puerto Rico Veterinary Medical College will also be invited.

According to unofficial figures, Puerto Rico is estimated to have a population of between 600,000 and 850,000 dogs, while the number of cats exceeds 1.1 million. Multiple reports indicate that some 250,000 dogs and cats are abandoned on the streets each year.

“The House of Representatives, led by our Speaker, Carlos ‘Johnny’ Méndez, has held multiple vaccination and medical care events for dogs and cats. Our Mayor of San Juan has done the same,” the lawmaker said. “These actions reflect a real need to improve veterinary services and make them more accessible. To do this, we need to know the number of dogs and cats on the island, which is why the census is an essential tool if we want to identify real and actionable alternatives that help reduce the number of stray animals.”

Parés added that “[w]ith this data available, we can do a lot.”

“The goal of this upcoming meeting is to establish the work plan, modeling, and metrics for the census,” he said.