LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

of July 10, 2025 No. 256

About protection of pets

The parliament adopts this ordinary law.

Chapter I. General provisions

Article 1. Regulation subject

This law establishes the legal basis in the field of protection and wellbeing of pets and wandering animals, and also prohibits ill treatment, unjustified causing pain, sufferings or bodily harms and unjustified murder of such animals.

Article 2. Scope

(This law regulates 1):

a) activities for content, leaving, identification, alienation, transportation and protection of pets and wandering animals with respect for the principles specified in Article 3, irrespective of pattern of ownership and also other types of activity with participation of pets;

b) responsibility of owners of the pets and bodies responsible for management of the number of wandering animals;

c) supervision and mechanisms of civil participation in the field of ensuring protection and wellbeing of pets;

d) mechanisms of monitoring, control and accountability for violations of the law in the field.

(2) Provisions of this law are applied to the following types of activity:

a) leaving, cultivation, alienation and transportation of pets;

b) rendering medical veterinary curing;

c) regulation, management and control of number of wandering animals;

d) use of pets in public and entertaining actions;

e) use of pets in animaloterapiya.

(3) Provisions of this law are not applied to leaving, cultivation and alienation of animals, held for use in the scientific purposes.

Article 3. Fundamental principles

In case of execution of this law the following fundamental principles are observed:

a) the principle of humane treatment - the valid treatment of animals, without cruelty, without causing unnecessary sufferings or unreasonable bodily harms;

b) the principle of equality - providing same protection to all animals without discrimination on signs of type, breed, age, the state of health, economic value or legal status (pets or wandering animals);

c) the principle of respect - manifestation of respect for animals as to the living beings capable to show emotions and to suffer from anguish;

d) the principle of responsibility - responsibility of owners of the pets, competent authorities and other persons involved in activities with pets for their life and wellbeing;

e) the principle of prevention - promotion and application of measures for prevention of ill treatment of animals and to ensuring their wellbeing, including by forming of the moral and humane attitude towards them.

Article 4. Basic concepts

For the purposes of this law the following concepts are used in value:

1) leaving - deliberate leaving of the pet who is in property or on content of person out of the place of its regular content, without providing forage, the shelter and necessary medical veterinary curing, with intention to refuse the property right or responsibility for it;

2) educational and entertaining activities with participation of animals - the educational and entertaining activities with participation of pets directed to improvement of intellectual condition and quality of human life, performed by the specialists or volunteers trained for these purposes;

3) the pristroystvo - the procedure of capture on content and acceptance of direct responsibility or ensuring care at distance of the left pet from shelter or detention center of animals, or from physical person or legal entity, and also is direct from the habitat, according to provisions of this law;

4) pet - the animal who contains or is intended for content by the person in private non-commercial purposes for communication or leisure;

5) wandering animal - the pet who does not have the shelter, not being in ownership under control or under direct observation of certain person;

6) shelter - the specialized unit intended for temporary placement, content and protection of pets and wandering animals who were withdrawn or caught which functions according to provisions of this law and performs the following functions:

a) rendering operational and medical veterinary curing to animals, including reduction of their sufferings with use of specialized methods of intervention;

b) ensuring long-term content of animals who were not demanded or for whom there was no new owner;

c) assistance to return of the lost animals to the former owner;

d) search of the new shelter or the new owner for wandering animals;

7) wellbeing of animal - the physical and mental condition of animal which is result of the humane attitude towards him, and also the conditions of keeping necessary for satisfaction of his biological and ethological requirements by satisfaction of his biological and ethological requirements for adaptation and cultivation;

8) catching of animal - the deliberate catching of animal performed by the methods which are not causing unnecessary sufferings for the purpose of protection, movement, leaving or implementation of other actions provided by this law;

9) quarantine - sanitary and veterinary measure which consists in isolation of animals by exception of direct or indirect contact with other animals because of limits of epidemiological unit for the purpose of prevention of spread of transmissible diseases for certain term during which the isolated animals are under observation and if necessary there take place inspection and veterinary treatment;

10) detention center of animals (further - TsVSZh) - the specialized agency intended for temporary content according to this law of the withdrawn, sold, found or caught pets and wandering animals in which services in catching, sterilization, vaccination, medical veterinary curing and the subsequent pristroystvo of animals are rendered;

11) trade in pets - set of the transactions made for the purpose of profit earning which assume transfer of property on pets;

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