Vienna (OTS) – The government’s animal welfare package unveiled today includes important first steps that will ensure a better life for pets and wild animals. It is therefore a success for FOUR PAWS and the alliance’s partners of animal welfare organizations, who have worked intensively and persistently over the past few months to achieve such an improvement for the animals. However, several points of the compromise between the government partners ÖVP and the Greens clearly fall short of expectations and announcements.
„We see the new regulation of torture breeding as the greatest success, as the unfortunate exception that allowed breeders to continue to breed animals with torture breeding characteristics despite a legal ban has been removed. We fought for this for a really long time
says FOUR PAWS campaign manager Veronika Weissenböck.
From FOUR PAWS’ perspective, the establishment of a scientific commission to prevent cruel breeding is also very welcome. This means that independent experts in the veterinary field and clinical areas can check whether it complies with the law before breeding begins.
A big downside is that there is still no requirement for a permit for all breeders. “This means that a very large number of breeders are neither subject to minimum breeding requirements nor mandatory controls – which continues to leave the door open to the illegal puppy trade! We strongly criticize the fact that the opportunity was not taken to finally put a stop to criminal activities and enormous animal suffering,” said Weissenböck. Under the guise of hobby breeding and hobby puppies are offered for sale all year round on the Internet, where the trade has now almost entirely shifted, far exceeding the permitted limit for litters. “In practice, dubious hobby breeders can breed in very small spaces, constantly buying other people’s animals and reselling them as their own breeding. If you do not observe advertisers over a longer period of time, it is almost impossible to determine whether the animals on offer are those bred in-house or animals purchased illegally,” explains Weissenböck.
In the fight against the illegal puppy trade, however, an important step that FOUR PAWS has been calling for for a long time should be taken: In the future, all veterinarians who use the microchip on dogs will also have to provide the data of the breeders or owners recorded in the database. The dog owners themselves are currently subject to this obligation, which in practice means that many dogs are chipped but not registered and therefore cannot be attributed to the original owner – something that is extremely important for traceability in the puppy trade.
A very welcome new regulation: In addition to proof of expertise, a two-hour practical unit is required for owning dogs. The fact that in the future there will be proof of expertise in keeping amphibians, reptiles and parrots (as part of a four-hour training course) is to be welcomed. Nevertheless: “The so-called positive list for wild animal species that can be kept by private individuals would have been very important, which the government parties also voted for in a resolution at the end of 2021 – so they did not meet their own requirements in this regard, which is very disappointing,” said Weissenböck. The fact that, in addition to the ban on wild animals, camels and buffaloes will be banned in circuses in the future is definitely positive – but it is not at all clear why the ban should not apply equally to all animals, including pets and farm animals.
Weissenböck says about the new regulations for biting and attack training of dogs: “In the future, private individuals and trainers will have to take an exam for protection dog training, which is definitely an achievement. The dogs must also be tested for their temperament and have a veterinary certificate. The fact that tests may only be carried out by people who have been certified by an independent, scientific body is a minimum requirement that we welcome, but which was long overdue. Regardless of whether it’s sport or not – training simply has to comply with animal welfare!
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All in all, FOUR PAWS rates the animal welfare package as an important first step – albeit with a few “buts”. In any case, the animal protection organization will use the assessment phase to point out the weak points and demand appropriate improvements and, above all, full implementation of the resolution from the government.
Questions & Contact:
Mag. Elisabeth Penz
Press Office Austria
FOUR PAWS – Foundation for Animal Welfare
Linke Wienzeile 236, 1150 Vienna
Tel: + 43 (0)1 895 02 02 – 66
Fax: + 43 (0)1 895 02 02 – 99
Mobil: + 43 (0)664 3086303
elisabeth.penz@vier-pfoten.org
www.vier-pfoten.at www.vier-pfoten.org