Animal Friends Seek Special Inspection
The association has sent a letter to the Croatian Government requesting the establishment of a specialized Animal Welfare Inspectorate following severe cases of neglect in Dvor and on Učka.
The association has sent a letter to the Croatian Government requesting the establishment of a specialized Animal Welfare Inspectorate following severe cases of neglect in Dvor and on Učka.
On August 13, 2026, the Animal Friends association sent a letter to the Government of the Republic of Croatia and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, requesting the formation of a separate Animal Welfare Inspectorate. As reported by the portal Hrvatska Danas, the impetus was the recent incidents of severe animal neglect in Dvor and the Učka area, where dozens of emaciated and dead animals were discovered.
The association warns that in both cases, the competent authorities had been receiving reports for years, but effective intervention was lacking until the situation reached catastrophic proportions. They believe this indicates serious weaknesses in the existing animal protection system in Croatia.
According to the association's explanation, veterinary inspectors, in addition to animal care, simultaneously oversee many other areas such as animal health, infectious diseases, food, transport, and animal traffic. Therefore, individual cases can remain unresolved for months or even longer.
Animal Friends proposes separating animal welfare from the broad scope of veterinary inspection and establishing a specialized inspection service. The creation of a dedicated inspectorate would allow for a larger number of expert staff, improved risk analysis, and faster response to reports.
The main tasks of the inspectors would be assessing animal welfare, detecting neglect and suffering, implementing appropriate measures, and supervising their enforcement. The proposed system should enable early detection of risky situations, for example, when a large number of animals are kept at one location, when multiple reports are filed against the same owner, or when previously ordered measures are not being implemented.
To realize this proposal, it is necessary to amend the State Inspectorate Act, the Animal Protection Act, and the Regulation on the Internal Organization of the State Inspectorate. This would precisely define the jurisdiction of the new Animal Welfare Inspectorate and its relationship with the veterinary and agricultural inspectorates.
The association emphasizes that the intention is not to introduce a redundant parallel system, but to reorganize and specialize existing inspection forces, strengthening them where needed.
Animal Friends requests the Government to initiate the process of establishing a dedicated Animal Welfare Inspectorate and to ensure a framework in which reports of neglect and abuse of animals will not remain unresolved for months or years. As they point out, timely response is crucial to prevent cases of neglect from being discovered only when animals are already severely injured, starved, or dead.
"Reports must not wait for months and years," the Animal Friends association urges.
