Many asylum seekers leave their pets behind. It is a stressor, especially for people with mental disorders. This year there was already a publicly known suicide attempt after AZC refused permission to move dogs that were prescribed by a psychiatrist. We want to allow having prescribed pets in AZCs.
People with mental disorders, animal defenders, asylum seekers and human rights defenders
The process of living in AZC is very difficult for people with mental illness. Permits for pets in the AZC territory are issued only at the will of the administration. In the opinion of the authors of the petition, this discriminates against the rights of people who in their homeland were having prescribed therapy pets (or it was prescribed in the Netherlands), and the administration refused to comply with the psychiatrist’s order.
Automatic permission to keep therapy dogs or cats (pets) for people with mental disorders on the territory of the AZCs, if prescribed by a doctor authorized to provide mental health care in the Netherlands.