The German Animal Welfare Federation is appalled by a statement from the German government regarding the ban on the transportation of animals to certain third countries. In the paper published at the beginning of March, the German government doubts that a national export ban can protect animals from treatment that is contrary to animal welfare. It also refers to the EU regulation on the fundamental freedom to export goods - this also includes animals. In doing so, it ignores the fact that further-reaching restrictions would certainly be permissible at national level. The fact that the German government remains inactive shows that it is repeatedly handing over responsibility to the EU - with consequences for animal welfare.
"As an EU member state, Germany should have set a good example and fought with all available means for a national ban on the export of animals to certain third countries. The German government has now missed this opportunity. It is backing down and hiding behind the EU export regulation. It is incomprehensible that the German government is not even trying to invoke the possible exceptions to this regulation, even though the mistreatment of animals during exports and in third countries is sufficiently documented," criticizes Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation.
ANIMALS SUFFER DURING TRANSPORT
For animals, transportation over several days is always associated with pain and suffering. Although the European Court of Justice has ruled that animal welfare standards must be guaranteed for animals from the EU to their destination, the reality is different. Tens of thousands of animals are transported by land and sea from Germany alone to countries outside the EU. European animal welfare standards are often not adhered to - from the general handling of the animals to their slaughter.
GERMANY HIDES BEHIND THE EU
This makes it all the more disconcerting that the German government refers in its statement to the fact that in order to ban the export of animals, evidence must be provided that they have been treated in a way that is contrary to animal welfare standards during or after transportation. Furthermore, the German government is of the opinion that a national ban does not solve the animal welfare problem, is disproportionate from a legal point of view and discriminates against the countries affected by a transport ban. The German Animal Welfare Federation criticizes the fact that Germany is hiding behind the EU with these statements. Although the German government is trying to regulate animal transports to third countries more strictly, it is doing so at EU level in conjunction with other member states. The fact that a national ban would strengthen Germany's argumentation power, credibility and thus its weighting on the issue at EU level in order to enforce an EU-wide ban - against the strong resistance of other Member States - has apparently not been considered. In addition, a national ban on the export of animals imposed by Germany would be decisive in preventing transports that violate animal welfare from occurring in the first place. "As long as Germany hides behind the EU, many more years will pass before anything changes at all with regard to the cruel transportation of animals to third countries," says Schröder.
Note to editors: The German Animal Welfare Federation is also making its demands in the area of livestock farming as part of its current campaign "Now more animal welfare!", which critically accompanies the Apel government's animal welfare plans: www.jetzt-mehr-tierschutz.de/tiertransporte
