On the occasion of the special conference of agriculture ministers on 5 May in Berlin, the German Animal Welfare Federation - together with other animal welfare organizations - addressed the agriculture ministers of the federal states and called for their commitment to a sustainable, future-proof and animal-friendly transformation of agriculture. The draft Animal Husbandry Labeling Act, in the implementation of which the federal states will be significantly involved and which still contains many shortcomings, is of central importance.
"The draft bill for an animal husbandry labeling law in its current form will not contribute to the species-appropriate transformation of livestock farming in Germany, as promised by the Ampel government in its coalition agreement. The draft even carries the risk of cementing animal welfare-unfriendly husbandry systems and blocking a development towards greater animal welfare," criticizes Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation.
As the federal states will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the law, among other things, the German Animal Welfare Federation is joining forces with four other animal welfare organizations to appeal to the responsible agriculture ministers: they are called upon not to support the draft law in its current form. Instead, they should call on the federal government to submit the draft to the government parliamentary groups for consultation again in order to initiate a far-reaching restructuring of agricultural animal husbandry, as society expects.
The following animal welfare organizations have co-signed the letter of the German Animal Welfare Federation: Bundesverband Tierschutz e.V., Albert Schweitzer Stiftung für unsere Mitwelt, Menschen für Tierrechte - Bundesverband der Tierversuchsgegner e.V. and Bund gegen Missbrauch der Tiere e.V.
Note to editors: We will be happy to send you the letter to the agriculture ministers on request. 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
