The German Animal Welfare Federation and the Animal Welfare Federation for Berlin are warning the Berlin Senate not to withdraw the application for a review of the standards against the conditions in pig farming that are contrary to animal welfare. "It cannot and must not be the case that Governing Mayor Wegner and his Senate do not care about the legally legalized suffering of pigs," says Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation.
In January 2019, the state of Berlin filed an application with the Federal Constitutional Court to review regulations from the Animal Welfare Livestock Farming Ordinance. The statutory minimum standards for pig farming are largely incompatible with the Animal Welfare Act and contradict the state objective of animal welfare enshrined in the Basic Law. "The current husbandry conditions in intensive livestock farming are often associated with health problems for the animals and damage to the animals. In particular, these affect the musculoskeletal system, the respiratory tract and the digestive tract, but also sleep," the motion by the then red-red-green Senate stated.
Unfortunately, experience has shown that such procedures take a long time. Apparently, however, the CDU-SPD-governed Senate now wants to back down for political and ideological reasons. "It would be a scandal in terms of animal welfare policy if the Berlin Senate were to close its eyes to the suffering of pigs and make a complete U-turn on an elementary animal welfare issue," says Schröder. In crate housing, for example, which can still be practiced for ten years with transitional periods, the sows leading the piglets lie for months in cages that are far too narrow and are intended to prevent the piglets from being crushed. "By withdrawing the application for a review of standards, Berlin, as a city of consumers, would miss a unique opportunity to act as a role model and set an example for animal welfare. Instead, the Senate would be pulling in the curly tail", regrets Eva Rönspieß, Chairwoman of the Board of the Animal Welfare Federation for Berlin.
