Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation, comments on the draft law on state animal welfare labels that has become public:
“We welcome the binding nature. However, the fact remains that a planned animal welfare label has become an animal husbandry label. Instead of offering the consumer transparency over the entire lifespan of the animal and evaluating it from an animal welfare perspective, only the form of husbandry is presented. There is no incentive to improve husbandry. The responsibility for greater animal welfare is thus shifted back onto the consumer, while the regulatory law remains unchanged. This is a missed opportunity. The social majority for stricter regulatory law combined with incentive systems would be there. If the FDP maintains its policy of blocking subsidies, hardly any farmers will be able to voluntarily change their farming systems. The FDP is thus denying the opportunity to make agricultural animal husbandry in Germany fit for the future and to adapt it to society's demands for more animal welfare in stables.
The least we expect is that it will be made clear in the further procedure that the “barn” stage will be given an expiration date, the criteria for all stages will be raised and extended to transport and slaughter. We also need clarity as to what a close-meshed control system, which we believe is necessary, will look like and how enforcement will be ensured by the federal states.”
