Germany approves amendment to the Animal Protection Act

Germany's Federal Cabinet has approved the draft amendment to the Animal Protection Act. Specifically, the amendment will include legal and enforcement changes for animal welfare. An extensive consultation process preceded the Council of Ministers' decision. Once approved, deliberations in the Bundestag committees can begin immediately after the summer recess.

The amendment covers important sectors where animals are kept or handled, such as online trade, pet and farm animal husbandry, and keeping wild animals in traveling circuses. In recent years, research and science have advanced animal welfare and provided important new insights. These new findings have been incorporated into the amendment of the law.

For livestock:

• Mandatory video surveillance system in slaughterhouses: Video recordings will be mandatory in animal welfare-related areas of slaughterhouses. The videos will help authorities monitor the processes on site.
• Requirements for non-curative interventions: Tail docking of lambs will be prohibited. For piglets, more specific requirements for tail docking will be established with the objective of reducing this practice.
• Use of anesthesia during the use of heat to dehorn calves.
• Prohibition of tethering animals: Tethering animals will be prohibited and within ten years, year-round tethered cattle farming will be prohibited; under more developed conditions, “mixed farming”, in which animals spend a lot of time on pasture, will be allowed on farms with a maximum of 50 cattle over six months old.

The Federal Commissioner for Animal Welfare is also enshrined in law. This will strengthen animal welfare in Germany both institutionally and structurally. One of his tasks is to strengthen the dialogue between the federal government and the federal states and to be available as a contact person for citizens and authorities in relation to animal welfare issues.