Collection and care of abandoned and lost companion animals in Portugalete

Summary

Portugalete is procuring a comprehensive service to collect and care for abandoned, lost, seized or municipally supervised companion animals. The work includes capture and transport, accommodation, feeding and veterinary care, urgent assistance to injured animals, return to owners and arranging adoptions. It also includes collecting and arranging the incineration of animals found dead in public places. Stray cats covered by the CES method are outside the contract. The contractor must respond to call-outs every day, around the clock: within 25 minutes for calls received on weekdays between 8:00 and 20:00, and within 45 minutes at night, on Saturdays and public holidays. Veterinary care must be available 24 hours a day. If the shelter is at least 30 km by road from Portugalete, the animal must be returned to its owner within the municipality once ownership has been confirmed and municipal charges have been paid; the contractor bears the return transport cost. The shelter must be registered and licensed, clean, and equipped with adequate space, quarantine, veterinary, washing and exercise areas. The contractor must provide suitable transport, staff and equipment. Animals received must be identified and examined, and treated and dewormed when needed. Appropriate food, unlimited drinking water and exercise suited to each animal must be provided. Animals placed for adoption must be sterilised, vaccinated, dewormed and microchipped; adoption must be free to the adopter. Euthanasia is permitted only in cases provided for by law, following a veterinary assessment and express municipal authorisation. The bid must include proof of the shelter’s zoological-centre registration and municipal activity licence, a general service plan, a description of the shelter, and plans for adoption, exercise, feeding and animal education. The technical specifications indicate an average of 17 dogs and 7 cats collected per year. Within 48 hours of signing the contract, the new contractor must also transfer, using its own resources, the animals then in municipal care at the outgoing contractor’s shelter; as of 18 May 2026, this comprised 11 dogs and 1 cat.