Προβλήματα με τα αδέσποτα και στη Γερμανία

Αυξάνονται οι αδέσποτοι σκύλοι και γάτες στη Γερμανία

Οι αντιφάσεις της γερμανικής Νομοθεσίας για τα ζώα

Μην φανταστεί κανείς ότι είναι όλα ρόδινα στην πολιτισμένη Γερμανία και τα θέματα των κατοικίδιων της (όπως τα παρουσιάζουν εδώ κάποιοι Έλληνες ζωόφιλοι). Έτσι τουλάχιστον καταγράφεται συχνά στα άρθρα τοπικών εφημερίδων , περιοδικών και ενημερωτικών ή ζωοφιλικών ιστοσελίδων στο διαδίκτυο. Στην ιστοσελίδα http://strayanimalrights.org/  τονίζεται ότι στη Γερμανία υπάρχουν πάρα πολλά καταφύγια ιδιωτικά και δημόσια , ασφυκτικά γεμάτα με σκύλους και γάτες. Τα περισσότερα κατοικίδια που γεμίζουν πλέον τα καταφύγια είναι ξεχασμένα και εγκατελειμμένα ζώα, που ολοένα αυξάνονται τελευταία στη Γερμανία. Πολλά από αυτά τα παρατάνε οι Γερμανοί, λόγω και της οικονομικής κρίσης, σε σούπερ μάρκετ, εστιατόρια, εθνικές οδούς, στα δάση , ενώ βρίσκονται περιπλανώμενα και αρκετά άρρωστα. Ειδικά στις γάτες, υπάρχει υπερπληθυσμός αδέσποτων...


Όσον αφορά στη Νομοθεσία της Γερμανίας , πολλά ρωτήματα παραμένουν αναπάντητα, καθώς από νομικής πλευράς τα ζώα θεωρούνται "αντικείμενα" και η κακοποίηση των ζώων θεωρείται ως "ζημιά περιουσίας", προκειμένου να... προστατεύουνται καλύτερα. Μερικοί κανονισμοί τους είναι αντιφατικοί όσον αφορά στον πόνο των ζώων, στα θέματα κακοποιήσεων ή στα μέτρα που πρέπει να λαμβάνονται στις χειρουργικές επεμβάσεις , ακόμη και στα πειράματα στα ζώα. Τα κενά είναι πολλά ...

Διαβάστε τα αντίστοιχα άρθρα αναλυτικά :

Dogs in Germany

Stray dogs in Germany? No, of course not.
We don’t have any stray dogs in our country. Not yet!


But why are there so many animal shelters in Germany, private and public ones, that are crowded with dogs and cats? There is an animal shelter in almost every city and community, and they are inhabited by former pets.
But animal shelters only exists where there’s a need for them, a need for the accommodation of animals.
Two main categories of animals can be found in German animal shelters: Animals handed in and found animals, some animal shelters also accept dogs from killing stations abroad. But what is a found animal? A found animal is a “forgotten” or abandoned animal.
More and more dogs are abandoned in Germany, they are forgotten in front of super markets, motorway restaurants, they are “found” in the forrest, they are wandering around. Many of them are diseased!

Just one example out of many: This boxer was picked up near the Tornow emergency shelter. Despite several appeals in the local press, his former owners did not get in touch. The dog aged about one was extremely emaciated, which was attributed to bad keeping at first, but he was diseased, very diseased! A liver tumour that had not been diagnosed ruptured after one week – he did not have a chance!
Several German animal shelters have confirmed to us, that never before so many “found animals” had to be accepted. Found animals who are then stuck in the animal shelter for the time being, as nobody is apparently looking for them!
The constantly worsening economic situation of private households, which often make the keeping and also the veterinary care for a quadruped impossible, are considered to be the reason for this phenomenon. This economic development acts as a double constraint on the animal shelters, there is an increasing number of animals in the shelters and a decrease in donations on the other hand. But private animal shelters depend on membership fees and donations to be run, many are already struggling for survival...
Let us think ahead in the direction of this szenario:
• The economic situation in Germany is constantly worsening
• The readiness and ability to donate is decreasing steadily
• The number of abandoned animals is on the rise
• The capacity of the animal shelters is exceeded
• Cities, communities and the fed are on a budget...
What consequences does this have on the situation of the animals in our country?
Are we facing animal shelter situations like in Southern and Eastern Europe?
Are surplus animals going to be killed then?
Is Germany heading towards a “stray” problem soon?



Cats in Germany


We have strays too.
Needless to say that our strays are not filling the inner cities in packs, and they aren’t clearly visible for everyone either. This does not correspond to their nature, as they are loners and often shy.
Free-roaming cats are among our most pressing animal welfare problems.

This population consists of abandoned domestic cats and their offspring. We are not dealing with the “wildcat” species, which has never been domesticated. Man alone is the cause and thus responsible for this problem. This problem seems to be so urgent, that some cities and communities are already looking for “officially” decreed solutions.
The “stray solution” envisaged by the city of Schleiden in the Eifel is terribly intelligent.
The suspicion might arise that the city fathers have seeked the advice of local authorities during an official trip to a Southern or Eastern European country, who doubtlessly have expert knowledge regarding this.
One thing is clear, the feeding of free-roaming cats alone, without spaying or neutering them, is no solution. It only augments the suffering. Initiatives calling for a “cat protective ordinance” as a solution model show, that there are other ways: There is a big movement in Germany that supports the adoption of a nationwide cat protective ordinance, which prescribes mandatory spaying and neutering, mandatory labeling and mandatory registration. There are a few cities in the world that have already implemented at least some of these demands, but many are still falling behind them, even in Germany.
We consider this cat protective ordinance to be particularly reasonable and are going to support it. Please help to reduce the suffering of the cats.
Picture above: © Brit Berlin / PIXELIO http://www.pixelio.de/




The German Animal Protection Act

Despite the fact that Germany has an animal protection act, and the protection of animals is included in the constitution (Article 20a), many questions about this matter remain open.
According to German legal understanding, animals are still objects, even though from a biological point of view, humans are animals too. Thus, killing an animal is damage to property.
The central idea of statutory animal welfare is found § 1 of the animal protection act:
“The purpose of this law is, out of a sense of human responsibility for animals as fellow creatures, to protect their lives and well being. No person may, without good cause, inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal.”
This law gives rise to many questions.
Why does it make a distinction between the sub-categories of working animals and laboratory animals?
What does “well being” mean?
What is “good cause”?
What are “pain, suffering, harm”?
Does intensive livestock farming contribute to the well being of animals?
Is animal testing good cause?
Doesn’t slaughtering animals according to Muslim rites inflict pain and suffering?
Are “pedigree standards” not inflicting harm to many animals, causing pain and suffering?
Who represents the interests of animals in court?
Is there a specialist solicitor for animal law?
What do prosecutors and judges know about animal welfare and its reality?
How much time do official veterinarians have to deal with animal welfare issues?
Who bears the costs when animals are confiscated and have to be accomodated?
The list of questions could be expanded to any extend, as well as a listing of possible breaches.
It is important to recognize that a law alone does not suffice, what’s crucial is its implementation in reality. The fact alone that there needs to be an animal protection act already shows that a lot is badly wrong.
Laws are legal guidelines, but they do not compensate for internalized values, the conscience of a human being, that he is given during his upbringing, socialisation and his growing into a society.
The more respectful treatment of every animal is something that should be natural for everyone. The value of an animal as a “feeling fellow creature” should be part of ones own moral sense.
Therefore it is important to start work where the biggest chances of improvement can be expected, with children and teenagers.
In a European comparison, the situation of animals in Germany is good, but many things need to be changed here too, there are drawbacks here too.
Beside many pets that are well cared for, we have an “Overpopulation of stray cats”, more and more abandoned old or sick dogs, whose owner are not willing or not (financially) able to care for their animals any more, there is intensive livestock farming and millions of laboratory animals.
In the following we present to you some examples of “Shadows in Paradise”. They are personal reports of animal welfare activists and their daily struggle for animals.
PICTURE: © Thorben Wengert / PIXELIO http://www.pixelio.de/


Comment on the German Animal Protection Act

The German animal protection act consists of 22 paragraphs regulating animal husbandry, killing of animals, surgery on animals, animal testing, surgery on animals for educational and/or training purposes. The German animal protection act furthermore includes regulations on the keeping and treatment of animals with regard to commerce, agriculture and breeding.
The German animal protection act is a guideline that effectively applies in many cases to special statutory instruments as well as to adjacent laws. Furthermore, the constitution, the penal code, the civil code and other laws and regulations are legally interlocked with the animal protection act. This interlocking as well as the various and numerous statutory instruments make the interpretation and application of the animal protection act difficult. As the animal protection act does not specially cover the term “animal”, the definition of the word usually falls back on the penal code (§ 303 StGB), which attributes only material properties to animals. Even though the civil code (§ 90a BGB) explicitly defines animals not to be objects, this is already compromised by the additional clause “unless otherwise stipulated”.
The complexity of the links between various laws and statutory instruments as well as the general formulation of the animal protection act itself causes the effective punishment of violations of the animal protection act to turn into an obstacle course through German legislation. In addition, the vague and ambiguous wording of the animal protection act leaves so much room for interpretation, that the applicability of the law on violations as well as the violation of the law itself becomes a matter of discretion. This becomes evident in paragraph 1 clause 2: “No person may, without good cause, inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal.” Paragraph 17 item 1 says: “Persons who kill a vertebrate without good cause shall be liable to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine.” A good cause is not a clearly definable legal term. When is the infliction of pain good cause? Who and what decides whether a cause for agony or death is good in the sense of the law?
The manifold possibilities included in the animal protection act to issue statutory instruments on almost any paragraph should be critically assessed as well. This circumstance becomes all the more pressing for practical animal welfare, as for every regulation positive for animals, the animal protection act allows exceptions, which can and thus are later defined in statutory instruments.
The law itself does indeed provide for the protection of animals in its first paragraph, but then takes that protection away again in the many paragraphs that follow. Unlawful behaviour (e.g. inflicting pain by castration of animals without anaesthesia) is so greatly restricted by the regulations and special provisions for surgery on animals, animal testing or animal husbandry included in the law, that the law thereby contradicts itself and its good intention.
The law classifies violations of the animal protection act as administrative offences, but not as crimes, which could make a higher degree of penalty applicable. An administrative offence often involves only a fine, which is equivalent to an admonition, but not to a punishment. There would be an illegality if there was a crime and therefore a criminal offence.
It remains doubtful how animals are supposed to be protected in this jungle of laws, statutory instruments and paragraphs and with a law into the bargain, that defines an offence against its paragraphs as an infringement rather than a crime. Interpretation and punishment are then often a matter of discretion of the jurisdiction.
Barbara Kowollik

http://strayanimalrights.org/en/component/content/article/35-countrys/72-great-britain?start=5