On July 9, the German Bundestag will consider the draft bill for a targeted amendment to the Animal Welfare Act in its first reading. The bill calls for mandatory video surveillance in slaughterhouses, which would be required to appoint an animal welfare officer. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, this would apply to only about 230 of the roughly 4,000 slaughter facilities in Germany. The German Animal Welfare Federation sharply criticizes this limitation and urges members of parliament to comprehensively improve the bill during the legislative process. Furthermore, the federation calls for the amendment to be used to implement long-overdue improvements in animal welfare.
“Lawmakers now have the opportunity to turn a minimalist draft into a law that truly advances animal welfare in Germany. Violations must be detected and additional suffering prevented even at smaller slaughterhouses. It is incomprehensible why the vast majority of slaughterhouses should be exempt from the video surveillance requirement,” comments Thomas Schröder, president of the German Animal Welfare Federation. Above all, however, the amendment to the law must not be reduced to video surveillance alone. “The Animal Welfare Act has significant gaps. Now is the right time to finally close them,” said Schröder.
Among the improvements that the German Animal Welfare Federation considers urgently needed are, among other things, a nationwide mandatory neutering requirement for outdoor cats, a more specific definition of the ban on cruel breeding practices, the introduction of a positive list for companion animals, a ban on tethering cattle, an end to live animal transports to third countries, and a clear target for phasing out animal testing.
“The Bundestag must not let this opportunity slip away. The Animal Welfare Act must be further developed so that it lives up to the constitutional goal of animal welfare,” Schröder demanded.
