Passos prohibits the use of nylon cable ties in animal castrations and provides for a fine of R$ 2,500

The legislation applies to both public and private clinics. Establishments will have around 90 days to adapt to the new requirements. The amounts collected from the fines will be allocated to the Municipal Animal Protection Fund.

The discussion on the topic gained strength after the death of the dog Kiara, in Três Corações. The case involves the investigation of the use of this type of material during castration surgery.

"Firstly, to emphasize that the popularly known name of the material is cat hanger. It is an extremely pejorative term, a popularly known term for nylon cable ties. And it is worth remembering that it is a material that is not for this purpose, it is a material that is not steric, so it can cause a lot of damage to the animal's abdomen. Where the ligaments are located are important organs, which are close together, so it can cause important injuries, it can lead to inflammatory processes, fistulas, sepsis, even the death of the animal”, he stated.

"I've been practicing the profession for six years and, thank God, I haven't had contact with this material and I haven't seen colleagues having contact with this material. Except once I followed a case of a service at the clinic where I worked, where a dog arrived with a lot of abdominal pain, there was liquid inside the abdomen, there was a very high infection, we had to investigate", he reported.

"She underwent an exploratory laparotomy, which is a surgery where we open the abdomen to try to investigate what could be happening and we found three hanging cats inside her abdomen. They were the causes of the entire problem. We managed to intervene in time, thank God we had a successful surgery, but this way, it was something that could have led to her death very quickly."

According to the veterinarian, the dog's owner was unaware of the use of the material and reported that the animal had been castrated six months before the treatment.

"We contacted the owner to explain, when we spoke she was shocked, she had no knowledge of the use of this material in her dog, and she reported that the dog had been spayed six months before this service. So, the problem came late. We don't expect it to come after the surgery. It can come and cause a serious problem, late, and this makes it difficult for us, veterinarians, to find out what it is. So, generally, we have to subject the animal to another surgery. Surgery involves risk, anyway.”