The two responsible ministers, Johannes Rauch (Greens) and Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP), announced on Friday that an agreement had been reached and that the end of fully slatted pens would take place at the end of 2039. The association against animal factories (VGT) criticized the long transition period, but also praised the two ministers for their courage.
While existing barns must be converted by the end of 2039, fully slatted pens without functional areas are already prohibited in new buildings and conversions from 2023. There are also improvements in the castration of piglets, it said in a broadcast. The entire animal welfare package, which was negotiated with the involvement of the public, farmers’ interest groups, industry representatives, representatives of civil society and other stakeholders, is to be decided in parliament next week.
Animal rights activists have been criticizing it for years
In the statements on the Animal Welfare Act (TSchG) presented at the beginning of May, pig farming was the most frequently mentioned deficiency, fully slatted floors in pigs have been a point of criticism from animal rights activists for years, and VGT, for example, campaigned for a ban for more than three years. Fully slatted floors are therefore hard concrete floors without straw bedding, which are interspersed with slats. “For the animals, they mean pain and damage. They contradict paragraph 5 (2) number 13 of the Federal Animal Protection Act,” criticized the NGO in 2019.
Animal Welfare Minister Rauch described the coming end of this type of husbandry as a “great success for animal welfare” and a “real turning point in pig husbandry”, since improvements would come for millions of pigs next year. “At the same time, the conversion is made easier for the companies. The large animal welfare package brings a ban on the year-round tethering of cattle, a ban on the senseless killing of chicks, restrictions on animal transport and many other improvements. This is an important step towards more animal welfare in Austria!” , the minister summarized the most important points.
“Do not endanger production chains”
Agriculture Minister Totschnig emphasized that “especially in times of rising prices, further development steps must be taken cautiously in order not to endanger domestic production chains and trigger another surge in inflation”. Individual points of the package are quite demanding, but there is planning security for the orientation of the companies, so it was possible for the first time to “anchor investment protection for existing systems in the Animal Welfare Act”:
The VGT welcomed the upcoming changes, “the ministers Rauch and Totschnig have shown the courage that is necessary for a great success in animal protection”. There was criticism not only of the long transition period, but also of the fact that the specific housing systems should only be developed by 2028, which should then apply as a minimum requirement for all pig farms from 2040. The animal protection NGO Four Paws demanded in a broadcast that these standards should be drawn up and decided quickly – including a mandatory littered lying area. The NGO also praised the decision itself, but criticized the deadlines.
Source: Nachrichten
