Bulgaria: Petition – DEMAND THE HARSHEST PUNISHMENT FOR THE MAN WHO DRAGGED A DOG BEHIND HIS CAR

bulgaria

bulgaria dog drag

Petition Link:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/demand-the-harshest-punishment-for-the-man-who-dragged-a-dog-behind-his-car?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=petition_message_notice

Raycho D. Ivanov’s trial begins on September 18th, at 9:30 AM, at the Criminal division of Assenovgrad District Court. This is probably the most important ANIMAL CRUELTY case in Bulgarian history, because if Temida delivers justice, it will reflect positively on Bulgaria’s image as a modern and progressive country. If she chooses to turn a blind eye on this heinous crime, the world will keep treating Bulgaria on par with the underdeveloped, Third World countries.

DEMAND THE HARSHEST PUNISHMENT FOR THE MAN WHO DRAGGED A DOG BEHIND HIS CAR

IN ENGLISH & BULGARIAN

Raycho D.Ivanov, a 55 y.old man from the Bulgarian village Topolovo, decided to punish his dog for killing couple of chicks. On Friday June 7, 2013 he tied the dog to the back of his car and dragged it for some time. An eyewitness took photo and posted it on Facebook. The photo went viral. The intense public outrage prompted police investigation. On June 8,  Mr.Ivanov was taken to the local police station for questioning. Later police found the animal dumped near the village.
According the information published by Bulgarian media, the dog was alive, had bruises all over his body and has been taken to a vet clinic for check up. After the consultation and some basic treatment, police returned it to the sadistic owner!

A number of animal lovers and animal rescuers have been trying to locate the wounded dog in order to ensure adequate assessment and treatment of his injuries. Unfortunately, the authorities do not give any information and we doubt that the dog is alive. The statement that it was taken to a prominent vet clinic in Plovdiv was officially rebutted by the clinic’s management. Yesterday, a group of local Animal Rights Activists went to Raycho D. Ivanov’s home to place the dog under appropriate care . They found the property locked and no traces of the wounded animal and his “owner”.

We are seriously concerned by the local authorities’ decision to hand the barbarically tortured animal back to his tormentor. In a news reportage aired on June 10, by Bulgarian TV, an eyewitness described the tortured dog’s condition as critical. She said that it was bleeding heavily from its mouth and from numerous wounds on its lifeless body. We are unhappy by the fact that willing rescue organizations have been refused the opportunity to take care of the suffering dog, which is totally inhumane and should not be allowed in a civilized country.

We are outraged by the heinous crime captured on the photo and we demand the following:
– Proper and unbiased investigation of the criminal act committed by Raycho D. Ivanov
– Maximum jail term for the dog’s abuser, which is 3 years under the Art.325b of Bulgaria’s Penal Code
– Immediate release of information about the dragged dog’s condition and placing it under the care of animal rescuers
– Animal Rescue Organizations to be given undisputable authority to take charge of pet- victims of violent owners and of strays- victims of cruelty

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Bulgaria, the world is watching!
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Райчо Д. Иванов, 55 г. мъж от с. Тополово решил да накаже кучето си заради две удавени кокошки. В петък 7 юни, 2013 той го завързал за теглича на колата си и го влачил така известно време. Свидетелка на зверското мъчние е успяла да го снима и публикува във Фейсбук. Само за няколко часа снимката взриви мрежата. Силната реакция на хората принуди полицията в Асеновград да се задейства. На 8 юни Райчо Д. Иванов е бил разпитан за съдбата на животното. Малко по-късно полицаи го намират захвърлено недалече от селото. Съгласно информация публикувана в пресата, кучето било живо, с многобройни охлузвания и било заведено за преглед при вет. След края на консултацията полицията го е върнала в ръцете на неговия мъчител!

Защитници и спасители на животни правят всичко възможно да разберат къде кучето, за да му осигурят адекватно лечение. За съжаление властите отказват да дадат каквато и да било информация. Версията, че е било прегледано в пловдивската ветеринарна клиника “Провет” беше опровергана от ръководството на клиниката. Вчера група активисти са отишли в дома на Иванов, с намерението да откарат раненото куче в болница. Намерили са имота заключен и не са успяли да научат нищо за  местонахождението на стопанина и на животното.

Ние сме сериозно обезпокоени от решението на местните власти да върнат зверски изтезаваното куче в ръцете на неговия мъчител. В информационна емсия на БТВ на 10 юни, свидетелката на случилото се разказа, че състоянието му е било критично – кървяло е силно от устата и от раните по безжизненото му тяло. Много сме притеснени и от факта, че на желаещите организации и спасители е била отказана всякаква взможност да поемат грижите за страдащото куче, което е нехуманно и не може да се допуска в цивилизована страна.

Потресени сме от изключително жестокото престъпление запечатано на снимката и настояваме за следното:
– Пълно и безпристрастно разследване на престъпното деяние на лицето Райчо Д. Иванов
– Насилникът да бъде наказан с максималния срок лишаване от свобода, 3 г. съгласно чл.325б от НК
– Властите без бавене да дадат информация за състоянието на влаченото с кола куче и да го предоставят на грижите на защитна организация
– Организциите за защита на животните да получат неоспорима власт да поемат отговорността за домашни любимци- жертви на жестоки стопани, както и на бездомни животинки жертви на насилие

Махатма Ганди е казал: “За величието и моралния прогрес на дадена нация може да се съди по това как се отнася към своите животни.”
България, света те наблюдава!

To:

 

Romania: 18/9/13 – Three companies recently signed contracts with the Bucharest municipality for gathering stray dogs from the streets.

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Romania guilty

SAV Comment

So, 50 Euros for each dog caught and killed ? – thats twice the amount for sterilization – 2 dogs + 50 Euros; with an additional guarantee that the animal(s) will not produce any more offspring.  Stray dogs forced to flee by the dogkillers ending up being driven from parks etc where they have learned to live; instead going to new locations and reproducing with local dogs in that area – thus PRODUCING more stray dogs.

No thought by the government and authorities in this policy – but obviously a lot of thought into how much money they can make for a never ending situation.

Until their is mass sterilisation of dogs, the ‘problem’ will go on, the money will keep rolling in and the politicians and others in charge of the killings will get very rich – but not meeting the objective of reducing stray numbers – but very rich, which is all they really think about.

Fat cat politicians !!!!!

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http://www.romania-insider.com/three-companies-win-contract-to-catch-bucharests-stray-dogs/106355/

Three companies recently signed contracts with the Bucharest municipality for gathering stray dogs from the streets of the Romanian capital city.

The city hall will pay about EUR 50 for each dog caught from the streets, which, with an estimated number of 65,000 dogs, would lead to a budget of around EUR 3.2 million.

The three winning firms are Elen Basic Business, whose main activity area is consultancy for business and management, Terra Marique and Best Marketing, both which have add-on activities for terrestrial transport.

Seven companies submitted offers for the contract. One, Puppy Vet, had not complied with the bid requirements, while Turbo Pet Mobil, Pet Stuff Univers and Radius vet withdrew from the bid.

The winners have already started catching the stray dogs from the streets of Bucharest, using 11 cars and 32 people compared to three cars and eight catchers, which is the normal staffing level of the Authority for Animal Protection and Supervision.

The teams of catchers are currently catching dogs from around schools and kindergartens, ahead of the start of the school year on September 16.

The next step will then be to catch the dogs in Bucharest’s parks.

The Romanian Parliament recently approved the piece of legislation allowing stray dogs to be euthanized 14 days after being caught, if nobody adopts them. This was triggered by the death of a four-year old child who was fatally mauled by stray dogs.

editor@romania-insider.com

 Romania guilty

 

Romania: Now The Constitutional Court Has Its Say On Dog Killings.

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Link:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/16/us-romania-straydogs-idUSBRE98F0OT20130916

By Radu MarinasBUCHAREST | Mon Sep 16, 2013 5:53pm EDT

(Reuters) – A campaign to cull tens of thousands of stray dogs from Bucharest’s streets after a 4-year-old boy was mauled to death has been held up by an appeal to Romania’s highest court.

The boy’s death two weeks ago triggered street protests demanding action against the capital’s more than 60,000 strays, who bite dozens of people every day and are a deterrent for foreign tourists.

Last week, parliament passed a law allowing dogs caught in public spaces to be put down if they are not claimed or adopted within two weeks. But on Monday, the Constitutional Court received a challenge filed by 30 lawmakers from all parties.

“We have to avoid reacting en-masse through collective killing … we don’t want to see tens of thousands of corpses,” one of the legislators, Haralambie Vochitoiu, was quoted as saying by the state news agency Agerpres.

The strays are thought to be a legacy of the late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s decision to bulldoze the pre-World War Two villas and houses of Bucharest’s historic center in the 1980s to make way for a gargantuan “House of the People”.

In the process, thousands of guard dogs were abandoned by residents who had been forcibly relocated into small apartments.

In 2006, a 68-year-old Japanese businessman bled to death in central Bucharest after a stray dog bit him in the leg. Two years ago, a woman in her 50s died of multiple wounds after being attacked by a pack of dogs.

Animal welfare groups say the solution is not killing the dogs but sterilising them. The court said it was likely to make a ruling on September 25.

Spain: The Brutal “Toro de la Vega” Has Just taken Place – Contact the Deadbeat Mayor – Also Video Links.

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Contact the Mayor animal abuser via the following link:

http://www.tordesillas.ayuntamientosdevalladolid.es/?q=contact

 mayor

 Above – “Tordesillas’ mayor Jose Antonio Gonzalez Poncela played down the protests, saying there were similar demonstrations at bullrings around Spain “so it is nothing more than that”.

2011:

 Watch the barbarity of the event via the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj7qQFrFE_s

http://alcaldedetordesillas.es/

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/photographer-gored-after-this-pic/story-e6frfq80-1226721385871

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A PHOTOGRAPHER has taken these striking images of a 580-kilogram bull named Vulcano moments before the bull gored him in the thigh.

As part of a medieval festival young men in jeans or shorts and T-shirts chased Vulcano through the fortified town of Tordesillas in central Spain.

It was slaughtered after crossing a bridge into a meadow where it faced crowds of people, some on horseback and many carrying lances.

A total of 12 people were injured in the event, known as Toro de la Vega, a Red Cross spokesman said.

Most people suffered cuts and bruises but two people had broken bones and one person was gored: photographer Pedro Armestre, 41, a freelancer who works regularly for AFP and was covering the event for the agency.

The bull gored Armestre in the right thigh.

Armestre, who was conscious and speaking to AFP’s Madrid office after the injury, was taken to a hospital in Valladolid for surgery.

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A man riding a horse stabs a bull with a spear during the ‘Toro de la Vega’ festival, in Tordesillas. Picture: Pedro Armestre.

The Red Cross official said Armestre’s condition was serious but not life-threatening, describing the skewering as “long but not too deep, that is to say, it is not an excessively serious goring”.

Hundreds of activists from the Party Against Bullfighting and Animal Cruelty (PACMA), protested in Madrid three days ahead of the event. Banners at the protest declared: “Torture is not culture” and “Stop Toro de la Vega”.

Activists from the group delivered a petition to Spain’s parliament, saying it contained more than 85,000 signatures opposing the Toro de la Vega.

Tordesillas’ mayor Jose Antonio Gonzalez Poncela played down the protests, saying there were similar demonstrations at bullrings around Spain “so it is nothing more than that”.

“There are always people in favour and people against in all aspects of life, not just for bullfighting,” he told Spanish public radio RTVE.  

The festival is one of the oldest in Spain with roots dating back to the fifteenth century. The bull has to be enticed across the river from the village to the plain ‘Vega’ before it can be killed to honour the ‘Virgen de la Pena’. Picture: Pedro Armestre

Please click on the following link and then scroll down to see video footage of this bloodlust by the braindead:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/358447

 

The brutal “Toro de la Vega” event is set to happen tomorrow in Tordesillas, Castile & León region in central Spain. Last night, 20 of the bulls which are to be used in the festival either escaped, or were purposely let out.

Digital Journal reported on the festival and the protest held in Madrid on Saturday, with ten to fifteen thousand people rallying against the brutal ritual. The “Toro de la Vega” festival features a bull being released into the meadow and slaughtered by people on horseback and on foot.

The protest was organized by the Partido Animalista (PACMA) and thousands condemn the festival as a brutal and medieval act that should be stopped.

A video of Saturday’s protest is included above.

20 of the bulls intended for the festivities went missing on Sunday and officials in the town are not ruling out possible sabotage.

The bulls were in the corrals in a meadow in the vicinity of Salamanca road, where the event is set to take place on Tuesday. Someone had released the bulls.

While it sounds like the Partido Animalista might be involved, according to the local mayor, José Antonio González Poncela, “no one knows who and how they have been able to escape but we do not believe this was the act of the anti-bullfighting people” adding that this would have to have been done by someone used to working with bulls.

The bulls have since been led back to the corrals in the early hours of the morning ready for the event tomorrow.


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/358447#ixzz2fFV0XDWt

 

 

Romania: 17/9/2013 – Latest Infomation and Sample Letter to Send.

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Romania guilty

Dear all,

A brief background of the law regarding the stray’s management for those who are not aware of it or just a remember for all those who have stood besides us all these years and have constantly made efforts to help and support us:

In 2007 a legislative project (known to you as PL912) which regulated the management of all the dogs (strays and with owners) by neutering and returning (catch and return), which had been approved by the Romanian Senate, was blocked for 5 years by the Lower House of the Romanian Parliament. Further on, this chamber has fully and completely modified the law from „catch, spay and return” to „catch and kill”, version in which the law was voted and approved. Before it was enacted by the Romanian President, the law was contested with the Romanian Constitutional Court. In January 2012 the Constitutional Court ruled such contestation and it issued a Decision whereby it clearly stated that „the mass killing of the strays may not only be applied as a last resort, exclusively when all other solutions have been accordingly implemented by the local authorities, however such solutions have failed to limit or to eradicate this phenomenon”. As a result, PL912 was resent to the Parliament with the purpose of conformation with the Court’s Decision. Another difficult year with considerable lobby actions and projects, materials, meetings regarding the legislative implementation of the dog management program by catch, spay and return. In the hysterical social context presented and created by the media and embraced by the politicians, on  10 September 2013 PL912 was once again transformed in catch and kill all, form in which it was voted by the Lower House of the Parliament.

On 14 September pl 912 was contested at the Constitutional Court based on the fact that it was voted and passed without it being in accordance with the Court’s Decision from 2012! The contestation was signed by 30 senators, mostly from the political party PP-DD (Dan Diaconescu) and a few senators from the other parties which chose to keep their verticality despite the instructions they were given by their political parties!

The tragedy of the child was presented blunted: it was claimed that it had occurred on public property (not private as it really was) and the child was found 1 km away from the park where he was with his grandmother. It is unconceivable how the 4 year old child could have arrived in such location by himself considering the extremely difficult and dangerous road he had to walk, which was problematic even for an adult. The shockingly relaxed attitude of the parents, especially the mother’s, is also staggering.

For nearly 2 weeks a war without precedent was launched against dogs and animal lovers. The people were set in an unbelievable manner against the dogs and animal lovers and the animal welfare NGOs were lynched in the media with the purpose that political objectives are indisputably achieved: the mass killing of the dogs and thus the insurance of the business which brought tens of millions of EURO to the authorities, the media annihilation of the thousands of people who protested in the streets against a cyanide exploitation of gold project in Rosia Montana, the creation of a psychoses in the population in order to ensure that the dogs would be perceived as being the biggest problem in Romania and therefore keeping a blind eye and turning the people’s attention from the real and critical problems of the country, which affect millions of people.

This mental manipulation produces drama in Romania”: dogs are killed “as a prevention” by people who do “justice” to themselves, the shelters build by animal lover communities are wracked to pieces, the mayors which poison the strays on the streets, the dog catchers who are on the run constantly day and night to catch the strays and overcrowd them in the public extermination camps allowing the dogs to eat each other or simply kill them, the police which fines illegally anything related to a dog – either that you feed a stray, that you own dogs, that you walk a dog and this bothers others. The dog catchers aggress the people, they destroy them mentally, especially the children! The unconscionable amount which the dog catchers receive (50 Euro/per each dog head!!!) in Bucharest only for the catching and transportation of the dogs in the public extermination camps make them fight for each dog, stray or with an owner!  This is how Ecaterina Moraroiu looked like, abused by the dog catchers when she defended her dog when the dog catchers caught her dog just from her side; the dog catchers immobilized her with the cross between her shoulders and she was dragged between the cars: http://m.rtv.net/97917

People are running with the dogs in their arms in order to hide them from the dog catchers, crowd them in their apartments which are already full of animals. The children who developed depressions because of watching and noticing how their friends are being caught. A 8 year old child almost threw himself from the 2nd floor when he heard that his friend, the stray dog, was caught by the dog catchers.

The friendly, healthy and protected dogs, all having sad or beautiful stories, which had found a family and shelter in the animal lover communities, where they were loved, nursed and taken care of, are caught and thrown over each other in the public extermination camps.

Tens of people wait at the doors of the shelters to adopt the dogs which were extorted from the vicinity of their homes or in order to recuperate their dogs, however in many of the cases the gates are closed and access is denied to them!

I appeal to those of you who are able to find places for the Romanian dogs, to take what you can, helping the animal lovers you already know/help from Romania. Please, help the animal lovers with whom you are in contact to transfer the dogs protected by them from the street to temporary paid fosters, at least untill they are prepared to leave Romania to other places.

The Romanian stray, abandoned or chased away or racked, grateful for small piece of bread a mat under a window where he can rest, near a human being, which has sadly become a part of the Romanian history, has long become a great business for the authorities. Brutally extorted fron the community which looked after him and cared for him, has now become, more than ever, the prime matter of a great Romanian industry “The Stray Business”.

EU Commission presentation, Bruxelles, January 2013, “Stray dog situation in Romania” (5 min.):

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoQiEoRU49o

Wednesday, 25 September 2013, the CONSTITUTIONAL COURT WILL DEBATE PL912 and will decide between life and death! In an uncorrupted country it would be absolutely normal and predictable that the Court will maintain its position stated in the Decision January 2012. However, we do not know how big the political pressure over the Court really is!

We ask all of you who have started PETITIONS to urgently sendthem, in a printed format, together with the signatures you have gathered so far, to the following address:

Curtea Constitutionala, Palatul Parlamentului, Intrarea B1, Bucureşti, Calea 13 Septembrie nr.2, sector 5, cod postal 050725

 

We also ask you to protest by sending the LETTER below or your own letter (preferably) to:

ccr@ccr.ro, pres@ccr.ro, valer.dorneanu@ccr.ro, petre.lazaroiu@ccr.ro, ttoader@ccr.ro, mircea.minea@ccr.ro, avp@avp.ro, drp@gov.ro, procetatean@presidency.ro, office@ansvsa.ro, office@cmvro.ro, petitii@mai.gov.ro, relatii.publice@scj.ro, amr@amr.ro, CJD@bucuresti-primaria.ro, dacianaoctavia.sarbu@europarl.europa.eu, director@aspa.ro, relatiicupublicul@aspa.ro, cabinet.presedinte@senatro.eu, cabinet.presedinte@cdep.ro, zgonea@cdep.ro, peti-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu, koen.doens@ec.europa.eu, office@agerpres.ro, stiri@agerpres.ro, mediafax@mediafax.ro, redactie.online@mediafax.ro, redactie@libertatea.ro, dilema@satiricon.ro, contact@adevarul.ro, pont@cancan.ro, cristian.stancu@click.ro, office@cotidianul.ro, office@curierulnational.ro, redactie@dcnews.ro, razvan.dumitrescu@dcnews.ro, andrei.moisoiu@dcnews.ro, simona.ionescu@evz.ro, online@gandul.info, office@ghimpele.ro, cristina.iancu@jurnalul.ro, subiecte@libertatea.ro, dan.turturica@romanialibera.ro, redactia@romanialibera.ro, editoronline@romanialibera.ro, redactia@enational.ro, redactie.online@mediafax.ro, protvintl@protv.ro, protv@protv.ro, focus@primatv.ro, stiri@europafm.ro, stiri@radio21.ro, ziua@ziua.ro, info@nationaltv.ro, vox@voxpublica.ro, stiri@antena1.ro, comunicare.corporate@tvr.ro, relatiicupublicul@tvr.ro, pr@protv.ro, protvintl@protv.ro, pr@acasatv.ro, povestiridenoapte@acasatv.ro, povestiri_adevarate@acasatv.ro, stiri@antena3.ro, contact@antena2.ro, focus@primatv.ro, cronica@primatv.ro, martorocular@realitatea.net, office@realitatea.net, webcontent@realitatea.net, site@money.ro, cristina@hurdubaia.ro, digivox@digi24.ro, online@digi24.ro, marketing@digi24.ro, mioara.radu@digi24.ro, office@nationaltv.ro, contact@n24plus.ro, info@kanald.ro, site@b1tv.ro, stiri@b1tv.ro, office@rtv.net, eugen.chelemen@rtv.net, malina.popa@rtv.net, webcontent@rtv.net, stireata@rtv.net, redactie@nasul.tv, ddtv@home.ro, contact@sperantatv.ro

 Please, send as well your letters to fax:

 

Constitutional Court: + 40 21 312.43.59; +40-21.312.34.84; 00 4 021 414.21.39

Senate: + 40-21.312.55.56

Chamber of Deputies: +40 21 3120828, + 40 21 3146934

Government: + 40 21 3139846

The Romanian People’s Advocate (Ombudsman) +40-21/312.49.21

 

Thank you!

 

Carmen ARSENE

Sample protest letter:

 Subject (example): Stop mass killing of dogs in Romania!

 

Honorable Members of the Constitutional Court,

Distinguished Officials,

Madams and Sirs,

Please know that mass killing of dogs is the worst decision possible: it is irrational, expensive, rejected by the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizing that dog slaughter has no result on the dog popluation in the street.

It is an as well known fact that killing stray dogs only pursues certain financial interests, as it is become notorious that tens of millions of EURO have been used formally, on paper, for stray dog management however in fact such amounts were used for other interests.

MASS SPAYING AND NEUTERING is the only LONG TERM solution for the decrease of the stray dogs phenomenon, as it aims to the source of the problem.

Mass killing is simply not the answer and is totally unacceptable in the civilized world of today.

We kindly expect from the Constitutional Court to prove it is correct and righteous and thus confirm by its current Decision the legal constitutional precedent given by the Decision 1/2012.

It is shameful that cruel mass slaughters of dogs can still happen in a member state of the European Union of the 21st century. The world is looking forward to hear you have reached the only correct and humane decision regarding the welfare of these animals, according with European and ethical norms, with the requests of the entire world, with the appeals from 6th and 11th September of European Parliament – Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals who considers that this „horrible and useless massacre of dogs” „goes against the values and objectives of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union”.

Please, be advised that if the killing of dogs starts, we will show to the entire world the reality of the dog camps, we will notify worldwide about the financial interests behind the business of killing dogs, we will withdraw any support that we have given so far to your country, we will boycott Romanian products and tourism, as no one will want to associate with a corrupt, cruel and immoral country.

We ask you to restore the image of your country and your people in the entire world and say NO to killing and ask for implementation of a real, effective and civilized dog management program by mass spaying and neutering

Thank you,

Name, country


 

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Romania guilty

GERMAN text

Liebe Tierfreunde,

 

Eine kurze Darstellung des geschichtlichen Hintergrundes des Gesetzes über die Hunde, für diejenigen, die noch nicht damit vertraut sind, und eine Erinnerung für all die, die in diesen letzten Jahren neben uns gelebt haben und sich bemüht haben, uns in allen unseren Vorhaben zu unterstützen:

In 2007 sah ein Gesetzesentwurf (ihnen bekannt auch als PL912) das Management der Hundebevölkerung durch Sterilisation aller Hunde, mit oder ohne Besitzer, und anschließender Freilassung zahmer herrenloser Hunde vor. Dieses wurde von der ersten Parlamentskammer, dem Senat, genehmigt, nur um dann 5 weitere Jahre in einer Schublade bei der zweiten Kammer – der Abgeordnetenkammer – zu liegen. Anschließend wurde der Entwurf grundlegend geändert, und besagte anstatt „Sterilisation und Freilassung“ nur „Einfangen und Töten“, dieser wurde von der Abgeordnetenkammer genehmigt. Bevor der Gesetzesentwurf so von dem Präsidenten gebilligt wurde und in Kraft trat, wurde bei dem Verfassungsgerichtshof eine Beschwerde eingelegt. Im Januar 2012 verkündete das Verfassungsgerichtshof seine Entscheidung, welche besagte, dass „die Tötung herrenloser Hunde nur als allerletzte Maßnahme getroffen werden könne, nur wenn alle anderen Lösungen entsprechend von den örtlichen Behörden umgesetzt wurden, ohne ihr Ziel – das Eindämmen bzw. das Stoppen dieses Phänomens – erreicht zu haben. Somit wurde PL912 zurück in das Parlament geschickt, wo es in Übereinstimmung mit der Entscheidung des Verfassungsgerichtshofs gebracht werden sollte. Es folgte ein weiteres schweres Jahr, mit einer Vielzahl von Lobbyaktionen, Materialien, Treffen, um die Einführung des Managements der Hundebevölkerung durch Sterilisation gesetzlich zu verankern. In dem hysterischen, von den Medien geschaffenen und von den Politikern übernommenen Kontext, hat die Abgeordnetenkammer am 10. September 2013 das Gesetz wieder einmal in einem Massentötungsgesetz umgewandelt und hat es auch genehmigt.

 

Am 14. September 2013 wurde gegen PL912 bei dem Verfassungsgerichtshof Beschwerde eingereicht, da es weiterhin nicht der Entscheidung dieses Gerichtshofs aus dem Jahre 2012 entsprach! Die Beschwerde wurde von 30 Senatoren unterzeichnet, die meisten davon aus der Partei PP-DD (Dan Diaconescu), aber auch einige aus anderen Parteien, die trotz anderslautenden Parteiweisungen ihre Integrität behalten haben.

 

Die Tragödie des Kindes wurde nur bruchstückhaft dargestellt, es wurde angegeben, der Zwischenfall sei auf öffentlichem Gelände passiert (und nicht auf Privatgelände, wie es eigentlich der Fall war), das Kind wurde 1 Km weit entfernt von dem Platz, wo die Großmutter auf ihn wartete, gefunden, vielmehr ist es unverständlich, wie ein vierjähriges Kind so weit kommen konnte, zumal der Weg bis dahin sogar für einen Erwachsenen extrem beschwerlich und gefährlich war, und schließlich wäre da noch die überraschend gelassene Einstellung der Eltern, insbesondere der Mutter.

Bereits seit 2 Wochen wurde ein nie zuvor dagewesener Krieg gegen Hunde und Tierliebhaber begonnen. Menschen wurden in einer unfassbaren Art und Weise gegen Hunde und Tierliebhaber aufgehetzt, Tierschutzvereine wurden einem Lynchmord durch die Medien ausgesetzt, um so einen Weg ohne jegliche Hindernisse für die Erreichung ihrer politischen Ziele vorzubereiten: Massentötung zwecks Fortsetzung eines Geschäftes, das mehrere zig Millionen Euro eingebracht hat, mit Unterstützung der Behörden; Annihilierung der Tausenden von Menschen, die auf den Straßen gegen die Einsetzung von Zyaniden für den Goldabbau in Rosia Montana protestierten; Einsetzung einer Massenhysterie in den Reihen der Bevölkerung, damit die Straßenhunde als Hauptproblem Rumäniens dargestellt werden, und so von den wahren und schwerwiegenden Problemen Rumäniens, die Millionen von Menschen betreffen, abzulenken.

Diese Manipulation führt zu Tragödien in Rumänien: Hunde die „vorsorglich“ umgebracht werden, von Menschen, die die „Gerechtigkeit“ in eigenen Händen nehmen; Hundehütten neben Wohngebäude werden von Menschen zerstört; Bürgermeister streuen Gift; Hundefänger, die Tag und Nacht Hunde jagen um sie dann in ihren Lagern zu zwängen, wo sich diese dann untereinander umbringen oder wo sie erschlagen werden; die Polizei, die willkürlich für erfundene hundebezogene Taten Geldbußen verhängt – weil man Hunde füttert, weil man Hunde in der Wohnung hat, weil man Hunde in einer Art und Weise ausführt, die ihnen nicht passt. Die Hundefänger werden aggressiv zu Menschen und greifen durch ihre Handlungen die Psyche aller Menschen, insbesondere aber der Kinder, an. Der unerhörte Betrag (50 Euro/Hund) den Hundefänger ausschließlich für das Einfangen und Transportieren der Hunde in die städtischen Lager erhalten sollen, bringt sie dazu, für jeden Hund, ob mit oder ohne Eigentümer,  regelrecht zu kämpfen! So sieht zum Beispiel Ecaterina Moraroiu aus http://m.rtv.net/97917, sie wurde von Hundefängern misshandelt, als sie ihren eigenen Hund schützen musste, da dieser von ihrer Seite weggerissen wurde. Die Hundefänger haben sie eingefangen und zwischen Autos gezerrt!

 Menschen laufen vor Hundefängern davon, mit Hunden in den Armen, um diese zu verstecken, sie bringen sie in ihre bereits mit anderen Tieren überfüllten Wohnungen. Die Kinder entwickeln bereits Depressionen angesichts des brutalen Einfangens ihrer Freunde. Ein achtjähriges Kind wollte aus dem zweiten Stock springen, als es hörte, dass sein Freund, der Hund des Wohnblocks, von Hundefängern weggebracht wurde.

Zahme, gesunde und von Menschen beschützte Hunde, alle mit ihren traurigen oder schönen Geschichten, die ein Zuhause neben den Wohngebäuden gefunden hatten, wo sie auch geliebt und umsorgt wurden, werden nun eingefangen und übereinander in die städtischen Lager geworfen.

Hunderte von Menschen stehen vor den Toren der Hundelager, um die Tiere zu adoptieren, oder diejenigen, die neben ihrer Wohnung lebten und von da weggerissen wurden, zurückzufordern, doch viele dieser Lager halten ihre Tore zu und der Zutritt wird verweigert!

Ich ersuche Sie alle, sofern es Ihnen möglich ist, Pflegeplätze für rumänische Hunde in Ihrem Land zu finden und dafür Kontakt zu Ihren vorhandenen Bekannten in Rumänien aufzunehmen. Ich ersuche Sie daher auch diese tierliebenden Bekannten in Rumänien finanziell zu unterstützen, solange diese den Tieren einen Schutz auf Zeit bieten, zumindest aber so lange bis die Tiere auf ihre Ausreise aus Rumänien vorbereitet werden für ein besseres Leben in ein anderes Land.

Der rumänische Straßenhund, ausgesetzt oder vertrieben oder misshandelt, dankbar für das Stück Brot und die Fußmatte unter dem Fenster, wo er sich neben den Menschen ausruhen kann, der auf trauriger Weise Teil der rumänischen Geschichte geworden ist, ist bereits seit geraumer Zeit zum Millionen-Geschäft für die Behörden geworden. Brutal aus der Gemeinde, wo er gepflegt wurde, entrissen, ist er nun mehr als je zuvor der Rohstoff eines großen rumänischen Industriezweigs geworden – Das „Straßenhundgeschäft“.

Vorstellung Europäische Kommission, Bruxelles, Januar 2013, Stray dog situation in Romania (5 Min.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoQiEoRU49o

Mittwoch, 25. September, WIRD DAS VERFASSUNGSGERICHTSHOF ÜBER PL912 und somit über Leben und Tod entscheiden! In einem nicht korrupten Land wäre es absolut selbstverständlich, dass der Gerichtshof zu seinem Standpunkt aus der Entscheidung von Januar 2012 steht. Wir wissen jedoch nicht, wie hoch der politische Druck auf den Verfassungsgerichtshof derzeit ist!

Ich bitte alle, die PETITIONEN eingeleitet haben, diese dringend als Ausdruck, zusammen mit allen bisherigen Unterschriften, an die Anschrift zu schicken:

Curtea Constitutionala, Palatul Parlamentului, Intrarea B1, Bucureşti, Calea 13 Septembrie nr.2, sector 5, cod postal 050725

 

Bitte protestiert, indem ihr das unten stehende SCHREIBEN oder (vorzugsweise) das eigene Schreiben an:

ccr@ccr.ro, pres@ccr.ro, valer.dorneanu@ccr.ro, petre.lazaroiu@ccr.ro, ttoader@ccr.ro, mircea.minea@ccr.ro, avp@avp.ro, drp@gov.ro, procetatean@presidency.ro, office@ansvsa.ro, office@cmvro.ro, petitii@mai.gov.ro, relatii.publice@scj.ro, amr@amr.ro, CJD@bucuresti-primaria.ro, dacianaoctavia.sarbu@europarl.europa.eu, director@aspa.ro, relatiicupublicul@aspa.ro, cabinet.presedinte@senatro.eu, cabinet.presedinte@cdep.ro, zgonea@cdep.ro, peti-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu, koen.doens@ec.europa.eu, office@agerpres.ro, stiri@agerpres.ro, mediafax@mediafax.ro, redactie.online@mediafax.ro, redactie@libertatea.ro, dilema@satiricon.ro, contact@adevarul.ro, pont@cancan.ro, cristian.stancu@click.ro, office@cotidianul.ro, office@curierulnational.ro, redactie@dcnews.ro, razvan.dumitrescu@dcnews.ro, andrei.moisoiu@dcnews.ro, simona.ionescu@evz.ro, online@gandul.info, office@ghimpele.ro, cristina.iancu@jurnalul.ro, subiecte@libertatea.ro, dan.turturica@romanialibera.ro, redactia@romanialibera.ro, editoronline@romanialibera.ro, redactia@enational.ro, redactie.online@mediafax.ro, protvintl@protv.ro, protv@protv.ro, focus@primatv.ro, stiri@europafm.ro, stiri@radio21.ro, ziua@ziua.ro, info@nationaltv.ro, vox@voxpublica.ro, stiri@antena1.ro, comunicare.corporate@tvr.ro, relatiicupublicul@tvr.ro, pr@protv.ro, protvintl@protv.ro, pr@acasatv.ro, povestiridenoapte@acasatv.ro, povestiri_adevarate@acasatv.ro, stiri@antena3.ro, contact@antena2.ro, focus@primatv.ro, cronica@primatv.ro, martorocular@realitatea.net, office@realitatea.net, webcontent@realitatea.net, site@money.ro, cristina@hurdubaia.ro, digivox@digi24.ro, online@digi24.ro, marketing@digi24.ro, mioara.radu@digi24.ro, office@nationaltv.ro, contact@n24plus.ro, info@kanald.ro, site@b1tv.ro, stiri@b1tv.ro, office@rtv.net, eugen.chelemen@rtv.net, malina.popa@rtv.net, webcontent@rtv.net, stireata@rtv.net, redactie@nasul.tv, ddtv@home.ro, contact@sperantatv.ro

 Bitte schickt ihre Schreiben auch als Fax an:

 Constitutional Court: + 40 21 312.43.59; +40-21.312.34.84; 00 4 021 414.21.39

Senate: + 40-21.312.55.56

Chamber of Deputies: +40 21 3120828, + 40 21 3146934

Government: + 40 21 3139846

The Romanian People’s Advocate (Ombudsman) +40-21/312.49.21

Besten Dank!

Carmen ARSENE

Sample protest letter:

 Subject (example): Stop mass killing of dogs in Romania!

 Honorable Members of the Constitutional Court,

Distinguished Officials,

Madams and Sirs,

 

Please know that mass killing of dogs is the worst decision possible: it is irrational, expensive, rejected by the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizing that dog slaughter has no result on the dog popluation in the street.

It is an as well known fact that killing stray dogs only pursues certain financial interests, as it is become notorious that tens of millions of EURO have been used formally, on paper, for stray dog management however in fact such amounts were used for other interests.

MASS SPAYING AND NEUTERING is the only LONG TERM solution for the decrease of the stray dogs phenomenon, as it aims to the source of the problem.

Mass killing is simply not the answer and is totally unacceptable in the civilized world of today.

We kindly expect from the Constitutional Court to prove it is correct and righteous and thus confirm by its current Decision the legal constitutional precedent given by the Decision 1/2012.

It is shameful that cruel mass slaughters of dogs can still happen in a member state of the European Union of the 21st century. The world is looking forward to hear you have reached the only correct and humane decision regarding the welfare of these animals, according with European and ethical norms, with the requests of the entire world, with the appeals from 6th and 11th September of European Parliament – Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals who considers that this „horrible and useless massacre of dogs” „goes against the values and objectives of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union”.

Please, be advised that if the killing of dogs starts, we will show to the entire world the reality of the dog camps, we will notify worldwide about the financial interests behind the business of killing dogs, we will withdraw any support that we have given so far to your country, we will boycott Romanian products and tourism, as no one will want to associate with a corrupt, cruel and immoral country.

We ask you to restore the image of your country and your people in the entire world and say NO to killing and ask for implementation of a real, effective and civilized dog management program by mass spaying and neutering

Thank you,

Name, country

England: Mike Rigby – Very Good Article – What I have Learned About The Badger Cull.

England

Following on from our recent post on why are no badgers tested to see if they actually carry the Bovine TB which is what is claimed, we now have an excellent article by Mike Rigby which questions the very same thing.

Our previous post –

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2013/09/15/england-badger-cull-update-no-badgers-tested-for-bovine-tb-but-tests-are-to-see-if-badgers-can-be-shot/

Mike Rigby article link (reproduced in full below) :

http://mikerigby.org/2013/09/13/learned-badger-cull/

 

What I have learned about the badger cull.

Posted on by Mike Rigby

Representing a rural community, I have heard first-hand from farmers about the hardships associated with bovine TB outbreaks on their farms. Movement bans, below par compensation for slaughtered animals, even the loss of historic bloodlines all seriously impact on farmers’ ability to trade and make a living. I have heard about the anxiety caused waiting for animal test results, hoping to remain clear or return to TB free status after an outbreak. It is clear that the disease has a major impact on farmers, farming and the tax payer with the current impact on the public purse reaching £100m per year. In my view action is needed. The desire for action in the farming community has translated into the Coalition Government’s Pilot Badger Culls. In order to test the efficiency of the potential for a widespread badger cull to reduce TB in cattle, two areas were selected, one in West Somerset, the other in Gloucestershire. Defra, the Government department leading on the cull, initially authorised culling to commence in 2012. The NFU, however, decided that it was too late in the year to be confident of removing 70% of the badger population, a key requirement of the pilot cull. This stipulation was further complicated by the fact that the groups managing the cull had inadequate knowledge of the existing badger populations. In short, you can’t guarantee that you’ve culled 70% of the badgers if you don’t know how many there are at the outset. So the cull was postponed until 2013.

I get the impression from listening to those opposed to the cull that, following 2012’s postponement, many thought that was probably it for the cull; that it wouldn’t then take place. So when rumours began to surface in August that the cull in Somerset would start at the end of the month, there was a sudden upswell in activity by those campaigning against the cull. And then it began. A few days before the cull began I received a message from a protester asking me if I knew that the culled badgers were NOT to be tested for bTB. I thought that they must be mistaken. Why on earth would Government pass up such a unique opportunity to assess the prevalence of the disease in the species? Yes, they must be mistaken. Initially I found it difficult to obtain any confirmation on this point but, being a regular Twitter user, I could see that Defra and the NFU had begun tweeting furiously in support of the cull so I posed them the question on Twitter. The NFU pointed me to a website, which was of no help whatsoever. Defra didn’t respond at all so I called the office of David Heath, Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton & Frome and a Defra minister. They gave me the number of the press office at Defra. I called and left a message saying that as a Councillor in the cull area, I was disappointed that no-one would answer my question. Very quickly I received a call back from Guy Robinson, Special Advisor to the Secretary of State at Defra, Owen Paterson. As we spoke, I did a quick Google on Mr Robinson and discovered that he had recently been drafted into the Department from Crosby Textor, the firm controlled by controversial Conservative Party election campaign manager, Lynton Crosby. In recent times, Mr Crosby has been linked to Government moves to drop plain cigarette packaging and the Government’s promotion of fracking in the UK.

Mr Robinson confirmed that there would indeed be no testing of culled badgers. I was, and remain, incredulous at this omission. I asked him why not. He said that the cull was never designed to assess the prevalence of disease “We already know badgers have TB,” he said. “The cull is designed solely to assess the humaneness of the technique of free-shooting as a means of culling,” he went on. “Yes, but why not test while you’re at it? The protesters will inevitably point up the failure to test as fear on the part of Defra that they won’t find much. Do the testing just to remove that plank of the protesters argument,” I ventured. But he was adamant that they had no interest in doing this. He said that the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCT) showed that badger were a vector for the disease. I pointed out that the data from the RBCT was 7 years old and surely it would be good to use this opportunity to update the science. I then asked whether Defra would allow a third party to test carcasses for bTB. He said he would get back to me. He never did and, despite repeated attempts to get a response, I’ve heard nothing. The failure to test the shot badgers is staggering and opens up the whole programme to the legitimate accusation that Defra are scared that it would show derisory levels of infection. Why else would they not do it? A sensible organisation would do it for political reasons if nothing else; unless they know they wouldn’t find much infection. And Defra’s refusal to allow a third party to do the testing gives the lie to the argument that it’s about a lack of funding.

I hadn’t previously heard this argument; that the pilot cull was solely to test the humaneness of the culling method. This seemed to be new. And then I got to thinking about last year’s postponement. Remember, the delay was based on inadequate data on badger populations in the two proposed cull zones. If the purpose of the cull was solely to test the culling method, why do they need to cull 70% of the badgers? Clearly the idea of the cull was to assess whether the spread of disease could be stopped. So the argument that they won’t test because the cull is just for testing the culling method is nonsense.

Before the cull began I did wonder whether the modest projected impact on bTB was worth the expense and upset it would inevitably cause but the bombshell that culled badgers were not to be tested for TB caused me to investigate further. The more I dug and the more I have learnt, the more flawed the whole programme appears.

The Government has pointed to the RBCT as providing scientific support for the cull but it appears to do no such thing. In fact Lord Krebs who led the research stated that “On the basis of our careful review of all currently available evidence, we conclude that badger culling is unlikely to contribute positively, or cost effectively, to the control of cattle TB in Britain.” It doesn’t seem to get much clearer than that. The RBCT did suggest that where 70% of badgers in a local area are removed, TB in cattle may be reduced by up to 16%. So, that looks like culling may be of some use, doesn’t it, even if marginal? But what these bald figures hide is that this does not represent a 16% reduction in absolute terms but a 16% reduction in the trend increase. And to exacerbate the shakiness of this claim, the RBCT culling was achieved by ‘trap-and-shoot’. In this way, animals could not crawl away injured. Animals could also be removed to a secondary location for dispatch so as not to scare away and disperse other badgers in the locality. Imagine firing at one badger in amongst a group. No matter how clean the kill, the other badgers will scatter and, if Defra are to be believed, may well carry the disease to new locations. Defra may have you believe that the sound moderators fitted to the rifles will prevent other animals being scared away but this is nonsense. I shoot. I have rifles. With sound moderators. The type of rifle required to shoot badgers cannot be moderated to a sufficient extent that the sound would not scatter the remaining animals. It seems quite likely that any reduction in cattle TB achieved by culling badgers by free-shooting will be less than achieved by trap-and-shoot.

A further question that arises from the statistics offered up by Defra is that if the best we can hope for from a near obliteration of local badger populations is a 16% reduction in the rising incidence, what is causing the rest of the cases? The NFU claim that farms have implemented excellent biosecurity to minimise cattle to cattle transmission but if that’s true where on earth is all the TB coming from? The whole issue seems so little understood that the idea of these culls is entirely premature at best and a hopeless waste at worst.

Recent newspaper reports (Western Morning News 12/9/13) suggest that the cull is not going at all well and that, two weeks into a 6 week programme designed to kill 2,081 badgers in Somerset, they have bagged less than a hundred. If, as they now say, the cull is designed to test the efficacy of the method of killing then such pitifully small numbers can surely not provide a statistically meaningful sample. Even if all the planned 5,000 are killed, only 120 are scheduled for examination to assess whether they died quickly and cleanly. And what’s worse, the marksmen are responsible for selecting which carcasses to forward for assessment. They’re hardly going to send in botched jobs for analysis are they? The whole thing is a shambles and I no longer feel able to remain silent about it. On-farm TB clearly has devastating impacts but I am far from convinced that culling badgers will make any meaningful difference and perhaps no difference at all or even make the problem worse.

Having researched the issue extensively over the last 2 weeks it seems clear to me that the badger cull has nothing to do with trying to tackle TB. This would appear to be supported by the fact that many of the cull proponents now seem to be promoting alternative arguments in favour of reducing badger population; they’re eating all the hedgehogs, they kill ground-nesting birds, they undermine our land etc. And there lies the nub of it in my view. Badgers are seen by many farmers as a pain and they would dearly like to have fewer of them digging away on their land. The case for culling to address TB is so weak I can see no other explanation.

 

Germany: The ugly matter of animal suffering has become a hot issue in Germany’s electoral campaign.

GERM0001

Merkel

German elections are on Sunday 22nd September 2013.

Animal welfare issue at centre of German elections

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Animal-welfare-issue-at-centre-of-German-elections

 The ugly matter of animal suffering has become a hot issue in Germany’s electoral campaign

Attention is being drawn to the paradox that although the country does seem to have adequate legislation to protect animals, and which should prevent livestock being exploited way beyond the pain threshold, these laws are not enforced. Maybe the 2013 elections will spell a turning point in this lamentable state of affairs?

fow week 2013 1

fox week 2013 8

Greens at loggerheads with the German Farmers’ Association

Germany’s federal election campaign is on its final stretch, with only days to go until voting day on 22 September. It is certainly nothing new that, in the run-up to major elections, some thorny issues get dragged into the limelight by parties desperately vying for votes.

Animal welfare shapes up as the ideal candidate – a highly emotive topic sure to trigger consumer outrage and flip voting decisions in an instant. Germany’s Green Party, which wields considerable power in German politics, due to its habitual function as coalition partner of Germany’s second-largest party, the Social Democrats (SPD), seems to be pursuing precisely this strategy. In fact, the two parties, up against the ruling Merkel-led CDU party, have banded together on this issue.

In a radio interview in June, for example, a member of the SPD drew attention to the fact that turkeys reared under intensive conditions in Germany routinely had their beaks mutilated – a painful procedure that leaves them unable to engage in some of their most basic instinctive behaviour, such as cleaning their plumage. Jointly with the Green Party, the SPD put forward a proposal in July to regulate the rearing of turkeys, for which no legal minimum animal welfare standards exist in Germany to date.

However, the event that really seems to have upset the apple cart was the publication of a Green Party-commissioned report in mid-July, researched by Hochschule Eberswalde (Berlin), with the unambiguous title ‘Qualzucht bei Nutztieren’ (Torturous Practices in Animal Husbandry).

The report acknowledges that agriculture has been under immense and ever-increasing pressure over the past decades to reduce production costs. As a consequence, livestock productivity has been continually pushed upwards, at the expense of animals’ wellbeing. The report is replete with examples, including the fact that the useful life of a dairy cow had been halved over the past 40 years, and that breeding sows barely managed to reach the age of three.

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Predictably, the German Farmers’ Association (Deutscher Bauernverband or DBV) claimed to be affronted by the publication. It hit back, accusing the Green Party of deliberately sowing distrust in the run-up to the elections. Furthermore, the DBV’s secretary general, Dr Helmut Born, criticised the details of the study, saying it was neither based on original nor the most recent data, but instead relied on outdated research, and that the facts had been reported in a highly selective fashion. Dr Born quoted numerous statistics in the livestock industry’s defence, including a declining mortality rate for calves and chicks.

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A land of price-conscious meat-lovers

Germany is the biggest fresh meat consumer in the EU, at just over 4m tonnes (mt) in 2012, ahead of France on 3.3mt, according to Euromonitor International. Furthermore, Germany was the country with the highest total grocery spend accrued by discounters in 2012 in the EU, and second in per capita terms, following Denmark. Clearly, German consumers are as notoriously price-conscious as they are fond of their animal products, and it is easy to see how this would lead to a strong conflict of interests and priorities for producers and consumers alike.

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Existing laws not enforced

The aforementioned ‘Qualzucht’ report offers numerous suggestions for making breeding programmes and animal husbandry more animal welfare-friendly – for example by opting for breeds of chickens where both sexes are suitable for commercial production purposes (the females for eggs, the males for meat) rather than to keep using separate breeds for each purpose. However, the report does concede the point that a voluntary reduction in livestock productivity with the aim of reducing animal suffering is unrealistic from a cost perspective, and that more forceful measures are needed, including those of a legislative nature.

Germany does have fairly comprehensive animal protection laws (Tierschutzgesetz), of which paragraph 11b expressly forbids breeding and keeping practices that cause pain and suffering to vertebrate animals. But although this law has existed since 1986, it has only ever been enforced in the protection of companion animals (pets), while thus far not having been applied to the realm of food animals. This, precisely, is one of the issues on which the Green Party would like to effect a sea-change in Germany.

No doubt, the DBV is less than thrilled about this prospect. Dr Born opined that only animals that were content and happy in their environment would continue to deliver high-quality foodstuffs like meat, milk and eggs. And as much as everybody may wish for this ‘theory’ to be true, there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary

Animals in chronic discomfort will still produce foodstuffs, and as long as the cost-profit balance remains viable, the industry will insist on sticking to practices that would seem abhorrent to an outside observer. Price competition is so fierce in Germany (and elsewhere) that little room remains for humaneness, and maybe it is time for the law to finally grow a set of teeth and go about levelling the playing field, rather than amounting to little more than fancy words festering in a file.

At present, the onus is effectively on consumers, who, if they feel strongly enough about this issue, can opt to purchase meat, dairy products and eggs produced under higher animal welfare standards – for example, organic. However, as the ‘Qualzucht’ report and other organisations active in this field emphasise, supply cannot currently keep up with demand, and pricing structures remain a strong deterrent. As much as it may rile the DBV, the imminent elections are a suitable platform for bringing this issue once again to the attention of German consumers, who do have the right to vote with their vote, and not just with their money.