OeDP Launches Campaign for Stricter Animal Welfare Regulations for Dogs and Cats

The OeDP--Die Naturschutzpartei --wants to implement new EU rules for the protection of dogs and cats more quickly: "A 10-year transition period means ten years of unnecessary animal suffering"

(Wuerzburg/Berlin/Brussels) - These days, everything is supposed to "happen quickly"--but apparently that motto doesn't apply in politics: When it comes to the well-being of animals or preventing their mistreatment, the clock ticks differently. "This cannot be allowed to happen," agrees the Federal Executive Committee of the Oekologisch-Demokratische Partei (OeDP - Die Naturschutzpartei): "We must act swiftly here and quickly implement the EU law on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability, which was adopted by the EU last week." The committee decided that the OeDP--unlike the recent EU legislation--does not intend to wait for a ten- to fifteen-year transition period for the introduction of mandatory registration of dogs and cats via microchips. Instead, it calls on the federal government to implement these animal welfare rules more quickly in Germany.

The OeDP is therefore launching a petition for the rapid implementation of the new animal welfare rules. It calls on everyone to sign the petition. This is because a swift mandatory microchipping and registration requirement can immediately help reunite lost or abandoned animals with their owners more quickly, relieve the burden on animal shelters, as well as municipalities and taxpayers, who will have to bear fewer costs for found animals. Finally, it will make it easier to prosecute criminal dealers.

The EU law is intended to ensure a better life for around 150 million dogs and cats across the continent. These rules are designed to protect animals from miserable living conditions, often painful suffering at the hands of breeders, or the profiteers of the illegal trade (mostly involving puppies or kittens). As rapporteur for the European Parliament's Environment Committee, OeDP MEP Manuela Ripa played a decisive role in ensuring that the mandatory identification and registration of all dogs and cats--including those in private households--was included in the legislation.

She was unable to prevent the lengthy transition periods that have now been adopted. "That is why we in the OeDP, and hopefully with the help of many animal lovers, animal welfare organizations, and animal shelters, must now ensure that the German government does not take so long to implement the law," says OeDP Federal Executive Committee member Guenther Brendle-Behnisch. The party leader hopes "that as many like-minded people as possible will get involved to improve the lives of dogs and cats."

Here you can find the OeDP's online petition:

https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/tierleid-endlich-wirksam-bekaempfen-eu-regeln-fuer-hunde-und-katzen-jetzt-schneller-umsetzen

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Text of the petition:

The new EU rules on the protection of dogs and cats against animal suffering (EU Law on the Welfare of Dogs and Cats and their Traceability) were recently adopted. However, the currently proposed transition periods are unacceptable. Privately owned dogs are not required to be microchipped and registered for another ten years, and cats not for another 15 years. For years to come, illegal puppy trafficking, abandoned animals, and animal suffering will remain far too easy to occur. The following measures must therefore be implemented quickly:
o Introduce mandatory microchipping and registration for dogs and cats much sooner,
o Implement a nationwide mandatory neutering requirement for outdoor cats,
o Ban cruel breeding practices consistently and more quickly.
The federal government must now implement the new EU rules consistently and without years of delay!

Justification

We, the signatories of this petition, call on the federal government and the Bundestag to implement the new EU rules for the protection of dogs and cats against animal suffering (EU Law on the Welfare of Dogs and Cats and Their Traceability) promptly, consistently, and without years of delay.

In particular:
o to introduce the mandatory microchipping and registration of dogs and cats much more quickly,
o to implement a nationwide mandatory neutering requirement for outdoor cats,
o to ban cruel breeding practices consistently and more quickly.

Animal welfare must take effect now, not in ten or 15 years!

Every day, animals suffer from illegal puppy trafficking, irresponsible breeding, abandonment, and cruel breeding practices. Animal shelters are overcrowded and reaching their limits, municipalities are facing financial burdens as they must cover the costs of stray animals, and countless dogs and cats are paying the price for political delays with fear, illness, suffering, and death.

The European Union has finally adopted an important law to better protect dogs and cats. The goal of the new EU rules is to curb the illegal puppy trade, combat animal suffering, and improve the traceability of dogs and cats in Europe. At the heart of the regulation is mandatory identification and registration in Europe-wide databases.

As rapporteur for the Environment Committee, OeDP MEP Manuela Ripa played a decisive role in ensuring that the mandatory identification and registration of all dogs and cats--including those in private households--was included in the legislation.

However, the transition periods currently proposed are unacceptable:
Dogs kept in private households will not be required to be microchipped and registered for another ten years, and cats not for another 15 years. This means that for years to come, illegal puppy trafficking, abandoned animals, and animal suffering will remain far too easy to occur.

Yet a swift microchipping and registration requirement could help immediately:
Stray or abandoned animals could be reunited with their owners more quickly. Animal shelters would be relieved of some of the burden, municipalities and taxpayers would bear fewer costs for found animals, and criminal dealers could be prosecuted more easily.

Most importantly: The EU regulation explicitly allows for stricter national regulations. Germany can therefore act immediately--if the political will is there.

Every further delay means more suffering. Every lost month means more abandoned animals, more overcrowded shelters, and more cruel breeding practices.

That is why we demand: Implement the new EU rules now, consistently and without years of delay!

Please support this petition with your signature--for genuine animal welfare, against the illegal puppy trade, and for the responsible treatment of dogs and cats in Germany and Europe.

Thank you very much for your support, Ecological Democratic Party (OeDP) - The Nature Conservation Party, Wuerzburg

Oekologisch-Demokratische Partei (OeDP - die Naturschutzpartei)
Pommergasse 1
97070 Wuerzburg
Germany

https://www.oedp.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen

Herr Gerd Pfitzenmaier
0172/9225161

gerd.pfitzenmaier@gst.oedp.de

The Ecological Democratic Party (OeDP) was founded in 1982 as a federal party. The OeDP currently has approximately 7,000 members nationwide and over 520 elected officials at the municipal, city, and district levels; it is represented in district councils, holds 18 mayoral and deputy district administrator positions, and has been represented in the European Parliament since 2014.

Who we are ...

The Ecological Democratic Party (OeDP) is made up of people who think and act in the interest of the common good. The guiding principle of our political action is that we do not think only of ourselves, but also show solidarity with all people on our planet and with future generations. We develop sustainable solutions for people, animals, and the environment with the goal of creating a livable, just, and peaceful society. The principle "People before profit" is at the heart of our politics. We address environmental and poverty issues together by honestly and far-sightedly examining economic, ecological, and social interconnections.

This release was published on openPR.