According to media reports, the new Federal Minister of Agriculture, Alois Rainer, has extended the employment of Federal Animal Welfare Commissioner Ariane Kari for three months - shortly before her employment contract was due to expire in a few days' time. Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation, comments:
"The extension of Ariane Kari's contract by three months for the time being is a good first step. At the same time, this decision does not relieve the minister and the government of the debate on how to proceed with the office of the Federal Animal Welfare Commissioner.
This office needs to be permanent. In the short time that Kari has been in office so far, she has already been able to give space to important animal welfare issues and carry out the necessary networking and mediation work in the interests of animals - free from economic or partisan interests and characterized by a high level of expertise and specialist knowledge. This includes, for example, the round table on the situation of animal shelters, which is currently working on concrete solutions to finally provide long-term and comprehensive help for animal shelters.
The permanent extension of the office would be an important signal that the government wants to take the national goal of animal welfare more seriously in future. Regardless of which ministry the office would be located in in the future, this would give millions of animal welfare activists in Germany and all those who care about animal welfare more confidence in the government's work."
