Humane Society International is applauding Mexico City Governor Miguel Ángel Mancera for signing into law a reform to the city’s Animal Protection Law, creating a new Animal Protection Agency that will serve as a policy hub to coordinate animal welfare policies. The new agency will oversee policies spanning from stray animal population surveys and spay/neuter campaigns to humane education programs and guidelines to respond to extreme cruelty cases.

The creation of this agency builds on the recently enacted Mexico City Constitution, which recognizes animals as sentient beings whose welfare must be protected. HSI/Mexico offered technical assistance during the drafting discussions of both the constitution and the animal protection reform.

Claudia Edwards, programs director for HSI/Mexico, said: “We applaud Mexico City Governor Miguel Ángel Mancera for signing this important bill into law. The new Animal Protection Agency is an innovative mechanism to continue advancing animal protection in Mexico and sets an important example in Latin America. We look forward to working with the Animal Protection Agency to help it fulfill its new mandate.”

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Governor Mancera announced during the signing ceremony that the Government of Mexico City will create a new public veterinary hospital. He also announced that his government will advance regulations to close down any establishment in which dogfights take place. 

The reform to the Animal Protection Law also:

• Enshrines the five freedom principles that define animal welfare as freedom from hunger and thirst; from discomfort; from pain, injury or disease; from fear and distress; and for animals to express their natural behavior.
• Requires that kennels register before the Animal Protection Agency, and spay/neuter their animals.
• Requires people who leave their animals in an animal shelter to pay for sterilization and vaccination.
• Prohibits the sale of animals in public markets.

Media contact: Raúl Arce-Contreras, rcontreras@humanesociety.org, +1-301-721-6440