Three questions with Ariane Désirée Kari on the state of animal welfare in Germany

At first glance, Germany appears to be quite advanced in terms of animal welfare. We have an Animal Welfare Act that fully protects farm animals, unlike in some other countries. Additionally, animal welfare is a constitutional right here, enshrined in the Basic Law.

However, upon closer look it becomes clear that the Animal Welfare Act urgently needs to be revised. This is evident, for example, from the fact that farm animals continue to be significantly modified through amputations to fit housing systems, due to numerous exceptions to the amputation ban in the law.

There is also a lack of legally binding, animal welfare-compliant minimum requirements for the housing, stunning, and slaughtering of farm animals. For instance, pigs often spend their lives on hard, uncomfortable fully slatted concrete floors, where they cannot properly separate their toilet area from their sleeping area and are provided with little to no enrichment materials. Yet, cleanliness in the stable and rooting and wallowing are extremely important for these clean and intelligent animals.

Moreover, day-long and even week-long animal transports within and from Germany are still common practice. During these transports, animals suffer from insufficient access to food, water, movement, and medical care. They are also often exported to third countries with virtually no animal welfare standards, where they are frequently slaughtered while fully conscious. But numerous grievances exist not only in agricultural animal husbandry. Looking at household pets, we struggle with an exploding stray cat population, overcrowded animal shelters, and the illegal trade in pets.

Thus, a realistic look shows that animals in Germany are far from well-off. Therefore, the current revision of the Animal Welfare Act is so important.

Of course, I see that the end of the tethering poses enormous challenges, especially for smaller farms in southern Germany. Those who only have a relatively small number of cattle find it difficult to invest a lot of money in conversions. Therefore, in my discussions with decision-makers, I advocate for extensive state support for conversions, particularly for these very small farms. I am also very concerned much in favour of having a legally anchored inspection and approval system for husbandry systems to ensure planning as well as legal certainty for animal keepers. On the other hand, it must be clearly stated: Tethering already violates current animal welfare law. This has been confirmed by numerous recent administrative court rulings. Both year-round and seasonal tethering during the winter months not only severely restrict the cattle’s need to move around. Both forms of husbandry also make a variety of natural social, resting, exploratory, and self-care behaviours impossible. They reduce the animals’ lives to eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, standing, and lying down – on a space as large as a pool table! It is evident that this can in no way be equated with even remotely humane animal husbandry.

Incidentally, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed this last year in an expert report and recommended phasing out this form of husbandry. Moreover, the Bavarian Farmer’s Association labelled tethering as an “outdated model” back in 2017 – seven years ago.

The food retail sector plays a crucial role in the societal shift towards greater animal welfare. One example is the broiler chicken initiative launched by animal welfare organizations. Here, food retailers, among others, voluntarily commit to raising animal welfare standards for broiler chickens beyond the legally required minimum. This is particularly significant given that over 600 million broiler chickens are fattened and slaughtered in Germany each year. Yet, the minimum standards in poultry farming are very inadequate.

Furthermore, such a commitment to greater animal welfare also makes economic sense for retailers. The per capita consumption of meat and cow’s milk in Germany has been declining for years. According to numerous surveys, a significant reason for this is that people are both reducing and becoming more conscious for their consumption of animal products. I am very pleased when this change in consumer behaviour is seen by food retailers as an incentive to give more importance to the protection of our animal companions in their corporate policies. In my opinion, there is enormous – often still untapped – potential here.