The German Animal Welfare Federation is calling for the amendment of the Animal Welfare Act to be re-initiated in order to better protect animals in Germany. The association thus supports the motion “An animal protection law that effectively protects animals” by the parliamentary group Die Linke, which the Bundestag will discuss at first reading on Friday, May 23.
"A draft for a new animal protection law, in which the SPD was already involved as a governing party in the last legislature, is virtually ready in the drawer. It would only be a small hurdle for the CDU/CSU and SPD to take up the amendment again and complete it. The draft combines a number of important animal protection aspects that are essential in order to finally do justice to the state objective of animal protection in the German Basic Law," says Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation.
Although animal welfare has been enshrined in the German Basic Law as a state objective for over 20 years, the Animal Welfare Act in its current form tends to regulate the use of animals and grants too many exceptions where it should actually consistently protect animals. The German Animal Welfare Federation is therefore calling, among other things, for the ban on torturous breeding of animals to be made more specific and extended, a consistent ban on tethering cattle and a ban on amputations without exception - including for farm animals and dogs used for hunting.
In order to tackle the problem of the millions of stray cats in the country and relieve the burden on animal shelters, mandatory castration for outdoor cats must be enshrined in law. The same applies to compulsory identification and registration of dogs and cats. The trade in animals of all kinds must also be regulated more comprehensively and curbed accordingly in order to prevent animal suffering, for example at pet fairs or through the uncontrolled online trade in live animals.
