The deputies rejected bills presented by Livre, JPP and Bloco de Esquerda.
PAN Bills
PAN, through Inês de Sousa Real, presented two bills, one to create a register of people convicted of animal abuse crimes, so that entities linked to the sector can know that this person cannot adopt companion animals, and another bill that criminalises zoophilia, which "is not clearly punished" in the legal system.
Chega Bills
Chega also proposes the creation of a national register of those convicted of animal abuse, and deputy Lina Pinheiro questioned who currently guarantees that someone who has abused an animal and been convicted will not do it again.
Projects from Livre
Jorge Pinto, from Livre, presented a bill creating a National Council for Animal Welfare and Protection, a proposal he had already presented and which was rejected, but which, he said, is important because it monitors policies and compliance with the law.
Projects from Bloco de Esquerda
Fabian Figueiredo, from Bloco de Esquerda, presented a bill to prohibit the sale of items such as electric collars and other coercive devices, which, he said, "are absolutely unnecessary" for training companion animals.
Projects from JPP
Another JPP project restricts the export of live animals by sea to third countries that do not meet animal welfare standards. Because, Filipe Sousa said, it makes no sense to have demanding animal welfare rules and allow animals to go to countries where they are not met.
Reactions to the draft bills
The JPP bill drew the most criticism, mainly from the PS, with Pedro do Carmo speaking about producers' income, and from the PSD, which, through Firmino Ferreira, said the Animal Ombudsman already performs many of the functions proposed for the Council by Livre.
In the debate, Paulo Núncio, from the CDS-PP, said that, regarding the proposals, "one cannot fall into ridicule" and that he would vote against all of them, and Paula Santos from the PCP was also critical, saying that "many decrees" on animal protection have already been approved. Rui Rocha said IL would support the proposals that made sense to it, and the socialist Pedro Delgado Alves said the Livre Council seemed like a good idea to him and that he had nothing against the PAN projects.













About time too, to criminalise zoophilia.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 23 Oct 2026, 12:16
Concerning animal welfare, I surprised that TPN has not published public consultation on bullfighting.
The Cultural Heritage institute has opened a public consultation process for the inclusion of “bullfights in Portugal” in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, according to an announcement published today, in Diário da República
The public consultation is taking place more than five years after the process was opened, following a proposal by the Association of Bullfighting Tertúlias of Portugal, which led the then Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage to request that the application be improved back in 2022.
By David from Algarve on 23 Oct 2026, 15:50
I'm surprised Chega would want to hand the police more ways to put their people in jail.
By Shawn from Lisbon on 24 Oct 2026, 10:30