For years, the Austrian animal welfare movement had been pushing for long-overdue improvements. However, the new package does not bring any far-reaching changes, according to the association against animal factories (VGT).
“The long-promised ban on keeping pigs with full columns has still not been implemented,” according to the VGT in a broadcast. Instead, the “Danish system” should be introduced in new buildings in Austria from 2023 – “a fully slatted floor with a slightly different column arrangement and an A4 sheet of paper more space”. Nothing will change for the existing companies.
ÖVP as “defender of the agricultural lobby”
“Functioning concepts have been on the table for a long time: enough straw that all animals can lie dry, clean and soft, twice as much space and activity material.” Here the ÖVP “toughly defends the interests of the animal industry” and the “agricultural lobby”. The victims are Austria’s livestock, which would hardly benefit from the new measures.
The Viennese animal protection ombudswoman Eva Persy also criticized the package and called it a “mess for Austria’s pigs”. Instead of getting rid of the “completely outdated and animal-hostile” form of husbandry of the fully slatted floor, this will be cemented in Austria’s stables for the next few decades: “The suffering of the millions of pigs who have to live like an outhouse in Austria will be anchored for the next generations.”
The animal welfare organization Four Paws described the proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare Act as “unacceptable”. “Pigs and beef cattle will continue to stand on fully slatted floors, tail docking and castration without anesthetic for piglets will continue to be common practice and animals will be transported far too young and far too long,” it said in a press release.
NEOS: Not a big hit
NEOS was just as disappointed: “The opportunity to present a plan for more animal welfare and quality instead of quantity in production was missed. For small steps, there is no need for Greens in the government, who are always so big on animal welfare,” says NEOS animal welfare spokeswoman Katharina Werner. Above all, it is incomprehensible that there is no noticeable step forward in the area of the abolition of fully slatted floors.
Rauch: First step and great success
At the press conference after the Council of Ministers, animal welfare minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) spoke of a “first step” in the area of pig farming, which does not go far enough, but is a compromise. In the government, however, he would “continue to campaign for animal rights. Because we are not yet where we want to be.”
In principle, however, the package of measures is a great success for animal welfare, which is finally implementing years of demands from animal rights activists. “We have thus achieved important improvements for the welfare of the animals.”
Tightening of animal transport
With the present animal welfare package, the uninterrupted, year-round tethering of cattle from 2030 will end. 4,700 stables are affected, there should be no more exceptions. When transporting animals, there are tightening, for example through stricter regulations, higher penalties and shorter transport times. For example, calves should only be transported from the age of “three or four weeks”, as Rauch said.
Rauch spoke of a “difficult subject” when it came to animal transport, since “animals are obviously transported under difficult conditions and in agony”. In the future, adult breeding cattle may only be exported to a few third countries, while animals for slaughter and fattening in third countries are completely prohibited.
Chicks should be fed in zoos
In addition, there will be a ban on the “senseless” killing of chicks in the future. Instead of being thrown away, male chicks should be fed in zoos, said Rauch. The need is great, so far these have had to be imported from abroad.
In the future it should also be possible to determine the sex of the chicks in the egg and thus to be able to carry out appropriate measures “earlier and with anaesthesia”. A “shredding” of the newly hatched chicks did not take place in Austria anyway, according to Rauch.
In addition, the animal protection ombudspersons of the federal states will be legally strengthened. They receive party status in proceedings under the Animal Transport Act. Another innovation concerns torture breeding: Here there will be a ban on with animals with characteristics of torture breeding.
Criticism of the new animal protection law
The government passed a new package of laws on Wednesday that provides for stricter rules on animal welfare. In the future, the “senseless” killing of chicks will be banned, animal transport will be restricted and exports will be more tightly regulated. However, the fully slatted floor for pigs should remain. Criticism came from the opposition and animal rights activists. The measures do not go far enough for you.
Köstinger: Needs consumers
The package is to be examined this week and passed in Parliament at the end of June. At the beginning of 2023, most of the regulations can come into force. Together with the designations of origin, this is an important step, not least for consumers.
Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) emphasized that animal welfare efforts only work if they are implemented together with the farms. Austria’s pig farmers are currently producing in the red, inflation is also affecting feed costs, and German pork is being produced around a third cheaper, she said. Animal welfare costs around a third more, organic twice as much. It is therefore also necessary for consumers to be able to reach for the appropriate products.