Dear Manfred,
After the delivery of over 40.000
signatures to the outgoing chair of the Inquiry Committee on Animal Transport,
yesterday the European Parliament voted on the Committee’s recommendation.
Unfortunately, the Parliament
watered down the text before adopting it, which is not enough but a step forward
for better animal welfare in Europe. [1]
The vote was supposed to
put in
place a real system change to protect animals against cruel transport
conditions and call for stricter transport times.
Yet, as we suspected, the powerful
meat industry lobby succeeded in getting their business interests to prevail
over the welfare of animals, so the outcome of the vote is
bittersweet.
Here are some of the important
battles we won:
✅ A ban on the transport of very
young calves
✅ Four-hour limit for transport of
rabbits and poultry
✅ A call for a shift to transport of
meat and carcasses instead of live animals
✅ Stricter controls and infringement
proceedings on the Member States not respecting welfare standards.
Unfortunately, some key
measures we advocated for were watered down, such as limiting transport to 4 or
8 hours.
But we can assure you that our fight
for better animal welfare doesn't end here, Manfred. For us, every hour of
suffering of animals stuck on trucks, vessels, planes or trains, is an hour too
much. And small improvements are not enough.
Now the recommendations voted by the
European Parliament yesterday are going to the European Commission and the
Member States who have the power to make ambitious changes when revising
the legislation and ensure that real protection of animals in transport is in
place.
Our Tilt community won't stop this
battle until we get it done, but we can't
make it without your support, Manfred!
We will soon keep you updated about our next actions. For now, let’s enjoy this
small win and gather energy for the next round. THANK YOU for your
relentless support!
In solidarity,
Fernando, Teo and Nele from the Tilt
team
PS: Check out our other campaign to
protect animal welfare here
References:
[1]
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20211124IPR18013/animal-welfare-meps-urge-a-shift-from-live-to-meat-and-carcass-transport
https://www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/196230/vote-on-live-animal-transports-in-the-eu-disappoints-animal-welfare-ngos
