At the SPD federal party conference (June 27 to 29 in Berlin), members will vote on a motion by the SPD district association of North Hesse calling for a comprehensive neutering requirement for cats that are not used for breeding. “The federal party conference calls on the SPD parliamentary groups in the state and federal governments to advocate for the introduction of a nationwide mandatory neutering requirement for domestic cats that are not used for breeding. To this end, an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act must be initiated,” the motion states. Thomas Schröder, president of the German Animal Welfare Federation, comments:
"The governing coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD failed to include a nationwide neutering requirement for outdoor cats in their coalition agreement – a disappointment given the immense suffering of millions of stray cats and the animal welfare associations that are left to deal with this problem on their own. But now the SPD has the chance to send a strong signal for animal welfare at the federal party conference. A nationwide neutering requirement is needed to prevent uncontrolled reproduction of animals and thus reduce the suffering of stray cats. With a clear resolution at its federal party conference, the SPD can show that it is taking responsibility – for animals and animal welfare associations."
Note to editors: With its current campaign “Every cat's life counts” the German Animal Welfare Federation is drawing attention to the suffering of street cats, which has become one of the biggest unnoticed animal welfare problems in Germany. Each of the millions of street cats in the country originally comes from an unneutered cat with outdoor access from a private household. The association provides all the background information in its “Big Cat Protection Report”.
