Board orders review of tail-docking cases

◆1 source

The Board of Appeal for Industry ruled in a case brought by the animal-welfare group Pigs in Emergency that State Secretary for Agriculture Erkens must assess whether three pig farmers complied with the rules on tail docking. The procedure is prohibited except in piglets no older than four days when tail-biting injuries have occurred and preventive measures have first been tried.

Erkens had rejected the group’s requests for enforcement, saying the requirements were unclear, including how serious injuries had to be and which preventive measures had been taken. The Board said the rules provided sufficient guidance for checking compliance and gave Erkens six months to assess the three farms and decide whether enforcement is warranted. Pigs in Emergency said the ruling could lead to changes in pig housing; it also said that, despite the ban having been in place for 30 years, 99 percent of Dutch piglets still have docked tails.

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Politics

Cabinet considers ban on unanaesthetised ritual slaughter

9 sources

State Secretary Silvio Erkens said he supports a ban on unanaesthetised ritual slaughter and will seriously assess an upcoming legislative proposal from the Party for the Animals. He said the practice does not fit with efforts to improve animal welfare and described the current situation as troubling, while stressing that a ban would not end ritual slaughter where animals are anaesthetised. Erkens said the issue is complex because it concerns freedom of religion and that any law must be legally sustainable. Under current rules, animals slaughtered without prior anaesthesia must be anaesthetised if they have not died within 40 seconds. A single report said Erkens will not introduce legislation himself and that about half of ritual slaughter in the Netherlands already involves temporary anaesthesia.

Politics

Revision of zoo licensing rules

9 sources

State Secretary Silvio Erkens presented plans to revise zoo licensing rules so that zoos must keep pace with updated animal-welfare standards. Under the current system, licences are indefinite and zoos that do not alter their facilities can avoid reassessment, while those seeking to improve enclosures face additional permits and administrative requirements. The planned system would make improvements easier for zoos that invest in animal welfare and allow enforcement against those that do not modernise, including penalty payments and, in extreme cases, possible withdrawal of a licence. The plans also include examining whether animal presentations and visitor feeding or contact with animals should be prohibited. The ministry will further develop the proposals with zoos, regulators and animal-welfare organisations; it is not yet clear when the new system will take effect. Artis welcomed the proposed reduction in administrative burdens and the requirement for lagging zoos to modernise.

Science

New arrangement planned for catching invasive American crayfish

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A new arrangement is planned to allow recreational anglers, angling clubs, contractors and muskrat controllers to catch invasive American crayfish. State Secretary Erkens informed the House of Representatives of the plan, saying that water authorities currently carry out the catching but have too few staff to reduce the population sufficiently. The Netherlands is estimated to have tens of millions of the crayfish in ditches, canals, lakes and ponds. They damage water quality and biodiversity by cutting aquatic plants, eating aquatic insects and the eggs of amphibians and fish, and digging passages and cavities that can weaken banks and dikes. The animals reproduce quickly and cannot be completely eradicated, but the ministry wants to increase efforts to catch them. Equipment such as slot traps and umbrella traps could be used.