Montoro commissions the College of Veterinarians to control feline colonies

The Montoro City Council has entrusted the Illustrious Official College of Veterinarians of the Province of Córdoba with the management of its Municipal Registry of Companion Animals and the application of the TNR method (Trap-Neuter-Return) in the municipality’s feline colonies. The agreement was approved by the municipal Plenary in an ordinary session on September 29 and is published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba number 209, dated October 28, 2026, with the reference BOP-A-2026-3521 (pages 15603 to 15609, section VI, Local Administration).

The agreement is signed by the mayor-president, María Dolores Amo Camino, representing the Most Excellent City Council of Montoro, and the president of the professional college, José María de Torres Medina. The text is based on article 19.3 of Law 11/2003, of November 24, and article 12.1 of Decree 92/2005, of March 29, which authorize city councils to sign agreements with veterinary colleges for the creation and maintenance of these registries. The collegiate corporation is already managing the Andalusian Animal Identification Registry (RAIA), approved as the central registry of companion animals by entrustment of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

A municipal registry delegated to the professional college

The purpose of the agreement is the entrustment of the management of the Municipal Registry of Companion Animals, created by Law 11/2003. The entrustment does not imply a transfer of ownership of the competence: it is the responsibility of the City Council to issue legal acts and resolutions, while the college assumes the material activity.

Among the functions assumed by the Illustrious Official College of Veterinarians of the Province of Córdoba are:

• The creation and comprehensive management of the registry and the computer processing of data.
• The custody of the generated documentation and making the data available to the City Council electronically via the RAIA website.
• The delivery to the animal owner of the Regional Animal Identification and Registration Document (DAIRA), in accordance with the Order of May 9, 2017.
• The training of municipal officials and technical and computer advisory services.
• The delivery to the corporation of 2 microchip readers for local police duties.
• The semi-annual communication to the Central Registry of Companion Animals of the Regional Government of Andalusia regarding registrations, deregistrations, and census modifications.

TNR Method and RAIA feline colony module

The text recognizes the “firm intention” to respond to the proliferation of stray cat colonies in urban centers. The agreement mandates the identification via microchip, registration under the ownership of the local administration, and surgical sterilization of all community cats, in compliance with Article 38 of Law 7/2023, of March 28, on the protection of animal rights and welfare.

The agreement incorporates access to the feline colony management module of the RAIA platform, which already includes this utility. The invoked legal framework recalls that Article 39 of Law 7/2023 assigns the management of community cats to local entities through specific programs, and defines a feline colony as a group of Felis catus specimens living in freedom or semi-freedom with a low or null degree of socialization.

1,487.55 euros annually and a renewable year

The City Council will pay the college 1,487.55 euros per year, VAT not included, an amount revisable in each period according to the variation of the General Consumer Price Index, which the Council commits to incorporate into the Municipal Budgets. The agreement will have a duration of one year from its signing, renewable by unanimous agreement for up to four additional years, in accordance with Article 49 of Law 40/2015, of October 1.

The text also provides for studying the adaptation of the system to genetic markers (DNA) and the creation, where applicable, of the census of potentially dangerous dogs provided for in Law 50/1999 and Decree 42/2008. Furthermore, the City Council commits to adapting its municipal ordinances on animal ownership and protection to current regulations and the agreement itself.

Census data and data protection

The registry will collect data on the animal (name, species and breed, sex, date of birth, and habitual residence), the identification system (date, code, implantation area, and other signs), the identifying veterinarian (name, membership number, address, and telephone), and the owner (name or corporate name, NIF or CIF, address, town, postal code, and telephone). The college acts as the data controller in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Organic Law 3/2018.

The agreement directly affects feline colony protectors, volunteers who feed and census community cats, and pet owners in the municipality, who must register their animals in the municipal registry. The publication of the agreement in the bulletin opens the door for Montoro to have, for the first time, an updated census and a health and population control program approved by regional and state regulations.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba, no. 209, October 28, 2026, section VI (Local Administration), pages 15603-15609 (official reference: BOP-A-2026-3521).