Updated on August 18, 2020, 2:07 p.m.
Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner is planning stricter requirements for dog owners. A regulation should therefore regulate, among other things, how often and for how long dog owners have to go for a walk with their four-legged friends. Stricter regulations are also planned for breeders.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is planning stricter regulations for dog owners and breeders. The responsible minister Julia Kloeckner (CDU) would like to guarantee dogs sufficient exercise and care, among other things. Stricter rules for animal transport are also to be enacted.
An ordinance for this should, if possible, be announced in the first few months of the coming year, said her ministry on Monday in Berlin. So far there is a draft from Klöckner, which is now to be coordinated with the federal states and professional associations.
The corresponding plans bring “new scientific knowledge about the needs of dogs” into the field.
Exercise in the open air twice a day
The ordinance is intended to oblige dog owners, among other things, to give their animals at least two times a day for a total of at least one hour outside of a kennel. First the “Rheinische Post” reported on the draft.
“Pets are not cuddly toys – their needs must be taken into account,” said Klöckner of the German Press Agency (dpa) when asked. Dogs should get enough exercise and shouldn’t be left alone for too long.
According to this, private and professional dog breeders should have to look after puppies for at least four hours a day so that they get used to people sufficiently.
For dog breeding it should apply that a supervisor is allowed to look after a maximum of three litters – i.e. puppies of a bitch – at the same time. In the future, the size and temperature of litter boxes will be regulated.
There should be no breeding incentive due to an exhibition ban
Dogs whose ears or tail have been removed in violation of animal welfare, as well as animals that are no longer able to behave appropriately due to excessive breeding, should no longer be issued allowed to. The breeding incentive is to be eliminated through the exhibition ban.
“Tethering” dogs, that is, chaining dogs all the time, should be prohibited in principle and only permitted under certain conditions.
When asked how the rules should be controlled, especially in the case of private dog owners, a spokeswoman for the minister said that the authorities of the federal states were responsible for this. But they would certainly not ring every dog owner and ask whether he has already been outside with the dog. It is mainly about keeping dogs in kennels.
Also new requirements for the transport of livestock
For animal transports within Germany, Klöckner wants to stipulate that they may take a maximum of four and a half hours, if the temperatures in the van meanwhile over 30 degrees can climb. “Especially in summer when temperatures are high, we have to avoid the animals suffering avoidable suffering from heat,” said Klöckner. (ff / dpa / AFP)
In cold blood, a woman abandons her dog in a park and races off when the four-legged friend returns to the car. The heartless owner from the US state of Oregon could be identified through the recordings of a surveillance camera.
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