In the run-up to the Green Week in Berlin, the German Animal Welfare Association has made it clear that it is opposed to the exhibition of live animals at the fair and expects at least clear improvements in the housing and handling of the animals.
“At a trade fair with several hundred thousand visitors, it is not possible to show animals in a stress-free and animal-friendly manner. We would therefore welcome it if Messe Berlin were to abandon the exhibition or significantly revise the concept,” says Dr. Esther Müller, Head of Science at the German Animal Welfare Association. “As long as the Green Week presents animals, the organizers must at least prevent conditions that are contrary to animal welfare and reduce the burden on the animals as much as possible.”
The German Animal Welfare Association wants to find out for itself at the trade fair from January 17 to 26 how far this is being implemented this year. The association is in contact with those responsible, having already voiced clear criticism last year and suggested concrete improvements.
Agricultural animals of various breeds will be on display at the Green Week - including cattle, sheep and goats, horses and donkeys, pets such as dogs, cats and rabbits, and wild animals such as birds of prey, insects, reptiles, fish and amphibians. In the animal hall and on the action area in the pets and small animals area, some of them are also actively demonstrated to the public. In 2024, the German Animal Welfare Association criticized numerous animals with torture breeding characteristics at the trade fair, which are actually prohibited from being exhibited, at least in the case of dogs. There were also animals that showed clear and severe stress and defensive reactions - partly due to the high number of visitors and persistently high noise levels as well as constant contact with strangers. The association also documented deficiencies in housing and poor handling.
“Cattle, some even with offspring, that cannot avoid the patting hands of visitors. Donkeys that are kept alone, even though they are highly social. Rabbits that are stroked by several visitors to the fair - often at the same time - without being able to escape the situation. Hunting dogs, often with docked tails, wearing forbidden choke collars or dogs that are allowed to eat a foam kiss during the retrieving demonstration, even though the chocolate coating is poisonous to dogs. These are all things that we will hopefully no longer see in the future,” says Müller.
