The recent green light given by the European Parliament to the first community rules for the protection of dogs and cats represents a milestone not only from a legislative standpoint — whose technical and jurisprudential details will be examined here in depth by legal colleagues —, but above all for the cultural and scientific impact it has on our understanding of companion animals. As a Specialist in Relationship and Behaviour, I welcome this text as a crucial step: for the first time, the European legislator translates into strict prohibitions and obligations the ethological concepts that professionals in the field and the science of animal behaviour have been advocating for decades.
A Barrier Against Extreme Breeding and the Protection of Species Identity
One of the most revolutionary aspects of the measure is the ban on breeding animals with extreme physical characteristics and the prohibition of consanguinity. From an ethological and systemic perspective, exasperated selection driven exclusively by aesthetics — think of hyper-brachycephaly in certain canine and feline breeds, or debilitating skeletal mutations — represents a true deprivation of the animal’s capacity to express its natural behaviours. A cat or dog that cannot breathe properly, that suffers from chronic pain, or that is restricted in its locomotion is not merely a sick animal; it is an individual who has been stripped of the ability to communicate effectively, to explore its environment, and to live a fulfilling relational life. Limiting pathological morphology means defending the biological right to behavioural expression of the species.
The End of Restraint and Mutilations: An Act of Ethological Respect
The ban on keeping animals on chains and the prohibition of non-therapeutic mutilations (such as ear cropping, tail docking, or the removal of claws in cats) directly address the relational dignity of the animal. The tail and ears are primary instruments of intra-specific and inter-specific communication. Mutilating an individual means permanently depriving them of their postural “voice”, generating communicative misunderstandings that often give rise to behavioural problems or defensive reactions, unjustly labelled as aggression.
In parallel, the restriction of physical restraint and the banning of coercive tools lacking safety systems dismantle the training approach based on control and submission. An animal deprived of freedom of movement and subjected to painful or restrictive stimuli develops states of learned helplessness, chronic anxiety, and frustration. The European regulation finally validates a relational model based on trust, on an understanding of ethological needs, and on attentiveness, moving beyond the logic of mere physical control.
Traceability: The Impact of Universal Registration
The obligation of identification and registration through interoperable databases also carries a profound ethological and social significance. Behind the scourge of illegal puppy trafficking lies a devastating systemic trauma: early separation from the mother. The first months of life — particularly the socialisation period — are fundamental to the emotional and cognitive development of the puppy. Young animals torn prematurely from their mother and thrust into long journeys under precarious conditions are deprived of the secure maternal base and the teachings necessary to develop self-control, frustration management, and proper communicative skills. Tracing the entire commercial supply chain means, in turn, protecting the mental health of future individuals, reducing the incidence of phobias, insecurities, and dysfunctional behaviours in adulthood.
Conclusions
This regulation demonstrates that law and ethology must go hand in hand. Sanctions and legislation are indispensable, but their highest value lies in their ability to shape the culture of society as a whole. This European turning point can act as a driver for a profound transformation in the way we coexist with dogs and cats: no longer seen as property or objects of anthropomorphisation, but as subjects of an equal relationship, endowed with their own minds, specific species-related needs, and the inalienable right to a form of wellbeing that is, first and foremost, psychological and emotional.
