The 69 cattle that died at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, for which the Elbe-Elster Veterinary Office in Brandenburg had issued a transport permit, remain a topic of discussion. After Federal Minister Cem Özdemir declared that he had tried to find a solution, he shifted responsibility to the EU in more recent statements. For the German Animal Welfare Federation, this is window-dressing in view of national options for banning the transportation of animals to third countries. The association is therefore calling on Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to intervene immediately and exercise his authority to issue directives.
“The fact that Federal Minister Özdemir only expresses concern and horror is not enough. The suffering and misery that the 69 cattle had to experience for weeks was foreseeable and could have been prevented with political will. In the case of civil servants, we would press for clarification as to who bears what share of responsibility by lodging complaints with the supervisory authorities. Unfortunately, this is not legally possible for a federal minister. But the Federal Chancellor can intervene via his authority to issue directives. Such an incident must never be allowed to happen again. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, instruct Federal Minister Özdemir to ban such live transports to third countries immediately,” said Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation. At the same time, Schröder appeals to the coalition parties to include a ban on animal transportation to third countries in the new Animal Welfare Act, which is currently under discussion. The adoption of the amendment by the German Bundestag is already planned for the coming weeks.
The 69 pregnant cattle that were dispatched during an animal transport in Brandenburg were stranded at the border with Turkey. Many of the animals died, the others were killed after an ordeal of more than two weeks. Because Brandenburg has been an epidemic area since August due to bluetongue, Turkish veterinarians had stopped the transport. A return to the EU was also not possible due to legal requirements. Instead of taking action and including a ban on live animal transports to third countries in his draft animal protection law, Özdemir regularly refers to the EU's responsibility. Several expert opinions confirm that national regulation is possible - including an expert opinion from the Bundestag's Scientific Service.
