Federal Army: Employer for 227 animals

October 4th annually stands for international animal protection, with the aim of drawing attention to the suffering of animals and sensitizing people to animal welfare. The Austrian Armed Forces is the “employer” for 227 animals throughout the country and therefore bears a high level of responsibility for the training, keeping and possible uses of the four-legged friends.

“In the Austrian Armed Forces, we attach particular importance to species-appropriate husbandry and training, which are subject to the Animal Welfare Act. Ensuring high-quality veterinary care in all areas is a top priority. In addition, the respectful and caring treatment of our four-legged comrades plays a major role, because our military animals also make a significant contribution to the safety of our soldiers,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.

Pack animal center in Hochfilzen

There are a total of 58 horses in the pack animal center at the military training area in Hochfilzen; Of these, 46 pack animals and twelve young horses in training as well as eight donkeys. The pack animal center was structured in 2007 after the four pack animal squadrons were merged and a new infrastructure was built according to the most modern animal husbandry criteria in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. The pack animal center has the task of supporting the Federal Army’s needs with pack animals in particularly difficult terrain conditions, taking into account operations in low and high mountain ranges.

Military dog ​​center in Kaisersteinbruch

The military dog ​​center in Kaisersteinbruch is the Armed Forces’ competence center for breeding, training, further training, deployment and testing of service dogs throughout Germany.

In total, there are 161 military dogs in 20 departments and are led by 128 military dog ​​handlers. Over 40 percent of employees at the military dog ​​center are women. 61 military dogs of the Rottweiler, German Shepherd and Labrador breeds are in Kaisersteinbruch for the purpose of breeding, training and also for a wide range of missions.

The military dogs make a significant contribution to minimizing the risks for soldiers during operations at home and abroad.

Bees in barracks

In some barracks, such as the Maria Theresien barracks in Vienna, the Schwarzenberg barracks in Salzburg or the Belgian barracks in Graz, honey bees are also looked after responsibly by soldiers.

Kra/Kra