Posted on 14/05/2014
Eurogroup for Animals, the federation
of European animal welfare organisations, urgently calls on citizens to
vote in next week’s European Elections. Each vote by Europe’s citizens
will determine the future lives and wellbeing of billions of animals and
every vote counts. Despite the recognition of the sentience of animals
in the Lisbon Treaty, the EU has only attempted to govern the welfare of
animals for economic purposes. International free trade agreements like
the one currently being negotiated with the USA also further water down
the rather limited legal protection of animals in Europe. Luckily, over
the last months more than 200 election candidates from all 28 European
member states have signed a pledge stating that they will work on
substantial improvements for animal welfare in the coming five year
Parliamentary term.
At stake: the welfare of billions of animals
Every year across the EU two billion poultry and 300 million
livestock are used for farming purposes, approximately 12 million
animals are used for scientific procedures and about 60 million dogs and
64 million cats are owned by European citizens. In addition the trade
in live reptiles into the EU accounts for € 6.4 million and this does
not include exotic and wild animals kept in zoos and aquaria.
Every
day 11 million chickens, sheep, horses, cows and pigs are slaughtered
and 280 million live animals are transported per year.
Each
and every citizen is directly and indirectly impacted by the way in
which animals are treated whether it be maintaining a safe and secure
food chain that protects consumer health, preventing the deterioration
of our local environments through decreasing biodiversity as a result of
invasive non-native animal populations or the unlawful trafficking of
wild animals and the illegal trade in their products such as ivory.
The role of the EU regarding animal welfare
Eurogroup
for Animals noted that many European citizens do not know what role the
EU plays in animal welfare issues. In view of the single market and
growing trade with third countries, the future lives of many animals are
shaped by today’s European decision makers, including Members of the
European Parliament. Because most animals are held for economic
purposes, their welfare is largely affected by European legislation and
policies.
Over
the last three decades the EU has adopted some crucial legislation to
better protect the welfare for animals including the ban on barren
battery cages for laying hens (2012), calf crates (1986), individual sow
stalls (2013) and the ban on animal testing for cosmetics (2013).
Moreover,
the sentience of animals has been enshrined in Article 13 of the Lisbon
Treaty (2009) which states that “full regard should be given to the
welfare requirements of animals while formulating and enforcing EU
polices”.
Main issues: lack of sound legislation and enforcement
Still today however, a large number of animal species have been
overlooked and are not covered by existing legislation. In addition
enacted legislation is being flouted at this very moment and Member
States are failing to enforce legislation effectively. For example, 80%
of Member States are still not compliant with the Pigs Directive which
means that enrichment of pig pens is still not taking place and pig
tails are still being docked unnecessarily and illegally.
The
Common Agricultural Policy which funds animal welfare initiatives also
promotes unsustainable factory farming in which billions of animals
suffer alive. Moreover, the welfare of cats and dogs as well as wildlife
is barely protected and the development of a long expected animal
welfare framework has been stalled. In addition to this the Food and
Veterinary Office which is in charge of ensuring animal welfare laws are
enforced only conducts 15 inspections per year which can only touch the
surface of the huge scale trade in animals across the EU.
Eurogroup and its member societies have come to the conclusion that
protecting animal welfare has been assigned a low priority due to the
economic crisis. The EU also seems hesitant to introduce new legislation
as a reaction to growing euro-scepticism. We fear that the situation
may even get worse with the development of new free trade agreements. It
will be difficult for example for European farmers to compete with
their US counterparts, as European animal welfare standards although
still very modest, are significantly higher than in the US. Trade
negotiations put pressure on these standards as a result and we fear the
EU may give in and lower its standards.
What can voters do to improve animal welfare
Traditionally, the European Parliament has been supportive of animal
welfare policies and has frequently pushed the European Commission and
Members States to go further in their ambitions. A recent example was
the adoption of Marit Paulsen MEP’s Report on the Animal Health Law
which introduced clear language on animal welfare provisions. So it is
vital that Europe’s citizens choose MEPs that will continue this work
and fight to improve animal welfare.
“We
must be in no doubt that the huge vested economic interests which
perpetuate cruel and unsustainable practices that impact animals
directly every day will continue and we can only counter this is if a
strong and united group of animal welfare minded MEPs are elected. It is
vital therefore that every European citizen uses his or her vote to
make a difference,” concluded Reineke Hameleers, Director at Eurogroup
for Animals.
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