The German Animal Welfare Federation wishes the new Federal Commissioner for Animal Welfare, Ariane Kari, all the best and offers her every support. Although the office has been formally incorporated into the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), animal welfare is a cross-sectional task as a national objective and must be consistently considered and implemented in all ministries, emphasizes the German Animal Welfare Federation on the occasion of Kari's inauguration today.
"We warmly congratulate Ariane Kari and wish her the greatest possible success. Her technical expertise and the social tailwind are good prerequisites for massively advancing animal welfare in government action. Ms. Kari can count on our support," explains Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation, and emphasizes: "One of the first tasks must be to compare and adapt all laws that affect animals in terms of their compatibility with the existing state goal of animal welfare in 2002. In addition, the glaring gaps in animal protection law must finally be closed."
ANIMAL WELFARE FEDERATION EMPHASIZES: STATE OBJECTIVE APPLIES TO ALL MINISTRIES
According to the current job description, the new animal welfare commissioner is to advise the minister responsible for animal welfare. However, issues relevant to animal welfare, on which the well-being and protection of animals depends, also play a role in other ministries: issues relating to double-decker animal transport vehicles and their approval are the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Transport, for example, issues relating to animal testing are the responsibility of the Ministry of Research, the issue of voluntary work is the responsibility of the Ministry of Family Affairs and the law on found animals is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. "Animal welfare is a classic cross-cutting task and is a national objective for all ministries. We would therefore have liked to see a separate department with cabinet access. Ms. Kari must now have the courage to work far beyond the BMEL and needs the freedom of Federal Minister Cem Özdemir to do so," said Schröder.
The office of the Animal Welfare Commissioner will end when the new Bundestag is formed and will then be filled with a new appointment. This means that there will no longer be an opportunity to work consistently and independently of the respective color of the BMEL.
Note to editors:
In its coalition agreement, the traffic light coalition had promised to create the office of an animal welfare commissioner. With its current campaign "Now more animal welfare!", the German Animal Welfare Federation provides information on which announcements from the coalition agreement the coalition government has already tackled and where there are only empty promises so far: www.jetzt-mehr-tierschutz.de
