In the run-up to the Salzburg municipal council and mayoral election in 2024, the VGT surveyed the 8 competing parties about their commitment to improving animal welfare.
Vienna (OTS) – How committed would the parties running for the election be to supporting the following animal welfare improvements and working to implement them? Chart for download (Copyright: VGT.at)
Of the 8 parties, only 4 (NEOS, KPÖ, GRÜNE and SPÖ) answered questions asked. Unfortunately, the VGT’s request was completely ignored by the other four parties (ÖVP, FPÖ, Liste SALZ and MFG). The 8 questions revolved around animal protection issues relevant to the city of Salzburg, such as: Fiaker, Pigeons or the establishment of an urgently needed wildlife reception station.
The 8 parties (ÖVP, FPÖ, Greens, SPÖ, NEOS, KPÖ, MFG and SALZ) were asked to rate their attitude to various animal welfare issues on a scale from very to not at all, i.e. how much they are committed to the following animal welfare improvements would work to implement these.
Fortunately, the GREENS (citizens’ list) and the NEOS are in favor of letting the contract between the city of Salzburg and the Salzburg Fiakern expire in 2028 with the answer “very much”, while the KPÖ is “more in favor”. The SPÖ would probably like to have the carriage horses in the city forever, because they are “not at all” thinking about letting the carriage contract expire. The SPÖ also wants to promote alternatives to horse-drawn carriages “less” and only publish the data from horse-drawn carriage horse inspections “more” for reasons of transparency. On the other hand, the KPÖ, GRÜNE and NEOS voted “very” in favor of publishing the results of the horse-drawn carriage inspections. The KPÖ and GRÜNE also voted “very” for the promotion of alternatives to horse-drawn carriages, and the NEOS voted “somewhat”.
The KPÖ, GRÜNE and SPÖ rated the construction of several dovecotes in all affected districts of the city of Salzburg as “very” important, the NEOS rated it as “somewhat”. It is therefore to be hoped that the situation of pigeons will improve in the coming legislative period.
Unfortunately, for the SPÖ, the establishment of a municipal wildlife reception station to look after injured and weakened wild animals such as squirrels or hedgehogs is “less” important, but the KPÖ and GREENS answered with “very”, the NEOS with “somewhat”.
The GREENS consider replacing the traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks display with a light show to be important with the answer “very”, while the other three parties answered “somewhat”.
It is pleasing that good cooperation and good exchange with animal welfare organizations such as the VGT were answered with “very” by all four parties.
The KPÖ is “very” in favor of a purely plant-based climate plate in all city canteens, while the other three parties are “somewhat” in favor of it.
The KPÖ and the GREENS (on p. 11) are the only parties to have their own animal protection chapter in the election program for the 2024 local council election (KPÖ election program, GREENS election program). Unfortunately, you won’t find the word “animal protection” among the other 6 parties. The NEOS and MFG have an animal protection chapter at the federal level. The ÖVP is currently attracting negative attention throughout Austria due to its negative attitude towards a quick and real ban Fully slatted floors and deep straw bedding for pigs. The FPÖ wants 5,581 at the Salzburg state level through a new regulation protected birds such as gray herons, jays and cormorants.
Georg Prinz from the ASSOCIATION AGAINST TIERFABRIKEN on the results of the election check: “We see it very positively that at least three of the parties have made greater commitments to animal protection and would also like to see more commitment from the SPÖ to the interests of animals. We were particularly pleased that the four parties agreed to set up supervised dovecotes. Unfortunately, experience shows that it is often just a matter of commitments that are not implemented after the election.
What is missing is the priority of animal protection in politics – this can also be seen in the fact that it is only anchored in the election program of the KPÖ and the GREENS. We will remind the parties of their promises after the election, especially if they participate in government. The fact that the ÖVP, FPÖ, the SALZ list and MFG did not respond to our request at all is a shame and shows that, when in doubt, these parties are always on the side of animal users and not on the side of the animals.
“
You can download all answers including comments from the parties in detail here:
ÖVP, FPÖ, SALZ and MFG did not answer the questionnaire.
At Questions summarized here.
The overview of the survey results is available here as a graphic Download available. (Copyright: VGT.at)
Questions & Contact:
VGT – ASSOCIATION AGAINST ANIMAL FACTORIES
George Prince
0660 4180757
media@vgt.at
https://vgt.at