Dog and cat welfare: how will new EU rules stop pet abuse?

To prevent cruelty, new EU rules set minimum welfare and traceability standards for breeding and selling cats and dogs, and for placing them in shelters.

Published: 30-06-2025 Last updated: 25-06-2026 - 09:59 8 min read

Unfortunately, potentially high profits, ever-increasing demand, and lenient penalties make selling dogs and cats attractive for disreputable breeders and illegal traders. Illegal commercial activities, including puppy smuggling and kitten farming, result in animal cruelty and health risks for our furry friends.

National cat and dog welfare standards in the different EU countries meanwhile vary widely. With cruel practices still commonplace, minimum harmonised rules at EU level have just been passed and will hopefully improve pet welfare.

Cruelty to dogs and cats

Cruel practices in the dog and cat trade take many forms, causing considerable suffering for the animals concerned and problems for the people who then buy them.

Puppy mills and kitten factories

Some breeding establishments, puppy or kitten “mills“ or “factories” for instance, neglect or abuse dogs and cats, keeping them in poor or overcrowded conditions or in cages, with inadequate food and exercise.

Female animals are exhausted by having too many litters a year. Puppies and kittens are separated from their mothers too soon.

Animals are often not properly vaccinated and not given the veterinary care they need.

Cruel breeding strategies

Breeders sometimes select certain genetic qualities for aesthetic or marketing reasons, as a result of which dogs and cats develop ‘excessive conformational traits’. This can lead to significant health problems for the dogs and cats concerned and their offspring. Other harmful practices carried out for aesthetic reasons include forms of mutilation, such as tail docking.

Online animal sales

Pet sales happen increasingly online, with approximately 60% of dog and cat owners buying their pets on the internet. Illegal traders are capitalising on this trend and advertise massively online.

With online sales, it is difficult for would-be pet owners and animal welfare authorities to check the real origin of the cats and dogs concerned and if they have been cared for properly.

Dog and cat smuggling

Dogs and cats are sometimes brought into the EU from countries with lower animal welfare standards, where they are bred and kept in terrible conditions. Sometimes these animals are kept in shelters as channels for illegal trafficking.

Illegal pet traders often use forged or falsified documents, with incorrect vaccination information.

Sometimes animals are disguised as family pets on entering the EU, to avoid more stringent animal transport rules.

Consequences of poor dog and cat welfare

The poor treatment of dogs and cats by rogue breeders, who put profit before animal welfare, has various consequences, for the animals themselves, for their eventual owners, and for legitimate breeders.

Dogs and cats bred in poor conditions can be left with severe health and behavioural problems.

Animals that have not been properly cared for or vaccinated are also more likely to harbour or spread diseases that could affect public health. They may need antibiotic treatment, increasing the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

The people who buy these pets, sometimes for large sums of money, can end up facing higher veterinary bills or the distress of living with an animal whose behaviour makes it an unsuitable pet. The result is more pets being abandoned.

Legitimate breeders, who take proper care of their animals, are meanwhile left at a commercial disadvantage.

The EU’s new dog and cat welfare rules

The European Parliament and the EU Member States have now agreed the first ever EU standards for the breeding, housing, traceability, import and handling of cats and dogs. Some of the rules will enter into force in mid-2028, others in the following years.

Ban on harmful breeding practices

The EU rules set minimum ages before a dog or cat can be used for breeding and minimum recuperation periods between pregnancies.

Cats should not be bred until they are at least 10 months old, dogs not until their second heat cycle. Cats and dogs should not be made to deliver more than three litters within two years, and after that they should be allowed a one-year recuperation period.

Breeding between parents and their offspring, grandparents and grandchildren, and between siblings and half-siblings will be banned, as this increases the risk of genetic disorders and health defects in the offspring.

Ban on cruel mutilation and on breeding for excessive traits

The new rules ban painful mutilations, such as ear cropping, tail docking and the removal of claws, except where there is a medical justification.

They also ban the breeding of dogs or cats to give them exaggerated or excessive traits that lead to significant health risks.

It will no longer be possible to show animals with excessive traits, or mutilated dogs or cats, or to enter them in competitions.

Rules against cruel handling methods

All professional establishments involved in breeding, housing or caring for dogs and cats will have to abide by these rules.

Professionals will be obliged to provide outdoor space for dogs and will not be permitted to keep dogs or cats in containers.

Tying a dog or a cat to an object (tethering) for more than one hour will be banned, except when necessary for medical treatment. The use of prong and choke collars without built-in safety mechanisms will also be prohibited.

New pet traceability requirements

All dogs and cats kept in the EU, including those in private ownership, will eventually have to have a microchip and be registered in interoperable national databases.
This measure will make it easier for buyers and authorities to verify a pet’s origin and check if the rules have been followed.

Measures against dog and cat smuggling

To close the loopholes that allow dogs and cats to enter the EU from elsewhere as non-commercial pets only to be subsequently sold, the rules cover both commercial and non-commercial animal imports.

Breeders outside the EU wanting to export dogs and cats to the EU will have to apply the same welfare and breeding rules as breeders in the EU.

The European Commission will draw up a list of approved non-EU countries and each of those countries will send a list of establishments that have been checked and approved as complying with the EU or equivalent rules.

Dogs and cats imported from third countries will have to be microchipped before their entry into the EU, and then registered in a national database.

Responsible ownership

At least one person working in pet shops, breeding establishments and animal rescue shelters will need to follow specific training on the skills needed to look after dogs and cats.

These establishments will also be required to provide new owners with information to help them understand what is involved in looking after a dog or cat properly.

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