Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Stefan Eck was until four years ago chairman of the Animal Protection Party of Germany.
He left it in 2014.
In the European Parliament, he is Vice President of the Intergroup on Animal Welfare and Conservation.
He was very committed to the abolition of rabbit batteries in the EU, and that is what this report is about, which I translated (in part) from his own statement from Brussels / 15.04.2018:

Report from the Commission on animal tormenting practices as “in line with existing animal welfare directives”!

Stefan Eck: “On Tuesday, 10 April 2018, I received the Commission’s report on “Commercial Rabbit Breeding in the European Union”, commissioned by Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis on the basis of my own-initiative report “Minimum standards for the protection of rabbits in agriculture” adopted by Parliament.
I took a lot of time to work intensively on the 11-page document with euphemistic photos of rabbit mast farms and some graphics of the Commission’s subordinate departments (for example, the Directorate General of Commerce).

When I read the report, I was shocked, depressed and angry. It is not worth the paper on which it is written and a clear rejection of animal welfare!
In the Commission’s report, the wellbeing of rabbits plays virtually no role. The unspeakable cruelty to animals in the so-called battery cages – although it is clear from the report that 85% of “rabbit production” takes place in these cages – is hardly mentioned:

Conventional cages (this is how the battery cages are made of sharp-edged iron wire) restrict the natural behavior of rabbits, increase the risk of excessive stocking densities (…) and do not meet the legal requirements of the EU. “

The report ends with the sentence: “On the basis of the available results of the competent authorities and the official controls carried out, the sector appears broadly to comply with the requirements of animal welfare legislation.”

With this final recommendation, the Commission wants to talk out comfortably and leave everything as it was.

On 19 April 2018, a meeting took place between Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis and myself.

I made it clear to the Commissioner that this document is not worth the paper, it is best to dispose of it in trash and that I am deeply disappointed that I regard the report as nothing more than a carte blanche for the Commission these – as far as the urgently needed improvements in the keeping conditions of rabbits are concerned – no longer have to take effect.

Commissioner Andriukaitis openly admitted that he had expected my reaction and my disappointment and apologized on the grounds that his hands were tied to him by higher authorities and, in particular, by the European Council. He could only offer me that he would soon set up a “working rabbit mast” within the animal welfare platform where the topic could be further promoted, and I could apply for observer status.

Conclusion: It should have been on the subject of “improvements in rabbit keeping” the last conversation between Commissioner Andriukaitis and me. Everything that could be said was said, everything that could be done on my part was done.

Conclusion: The 180 million rabbits bred and slaughtered in the European Union each year (author’s note: the figure quoted by the Commission is far too low, probably downgraded on purpose), may continue to be tormented legally – according to the Commission’s will, probably for the next decades.
It is a scandal that the European Commission considers the animal tormenting attitude of rabbits in battery cages to be lawful!
The political leaders should be ashamed in the land! Not only do they disregard Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty (animal welfare articles), they are largely responsible for the appalling suffering inflicted on these animals, and they legalize it later with their report.

 We can no longer count on the Commission, so we need to set a new course: continue with tenacity and harshness the fight against the rabbit industry until the last cage is empty and until even the last mast has shut down its operation for lack of demand. The pressure must come from the road. Otherwise we cannot win”.

 So far the statement of Stefan Eck. This episode only confirms the experience that we unfortunately have had very often with the EU.

(Translation: Venus)

https://www.facebook.com/Stefan.Bernhard.Eck.MEP/posts/2065698386791424

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