[lit-ideas] Re: One small step for mankind
- From: Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 10:50:59 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
I'm not a PITA member, but I think this is terrific news. Truly, one small
step for mankind.
Andy Amago
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Paul <Robert.Paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: May 29, 2004 1:33 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] One small step for mankind
Even chickens get a better life under new animal laws
By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 28/05/2004)
Chickens can no longer be kept in cages and dogs cannot be restrained by
choke collars under animal protection laws passed by the Austrian parliament
yesterday.
The legislation, the strictest in the world, has been under discussion for
more than two decades. It also stipulates that it is illegal to place animals
in
the care of minors, to display pets in shop windows or to use wild animals in
circus acts or other spectacles.
Chickens in Austria can no longer be kept in cages
Cattle may not be tethered with rope, and it is no longer allowed to use
electric shocks to train animals, or to dock their tails or ears. Some
politicians
wept as the law was passed by a comfortable majority following a five-hour
debate, while others waved soft toys in celebration.
Animal rights groups welcomed the changes, but the country's farmers reacted
angrily, arguing that forcing them to keep only free-range chickens would
increase prices and lead to a flood of eggs from foreign battery hens. Fritz
Grillitsch, the president of the national farmers' association, called for
compensation for farmers.
He said: "While we welcome aspects of this law, what pains us is the ban on
cages, which is an attack on farmers, their families and their livelihoods."
He said Austrian consumers had a duty to rethink their behaviour by buying
local products even if they became more expensive because of the new law.
Even some animal rights activists gave warning that the law could fail
animals if it led to the import of animal products from countries with poor
rights
records. Despite strict protection laws, many animals are imported annually
into Switzerland and Germany and kept secretly in substandard conditions.
The law which will come into effect next January, will set fines of between
#1,400 and #10,000 for animal cruelty. Inspectors will patrol the country and
make random checks to ensure that the law is implemented correctly.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel said the law was a "pioneering example" for the
world on how to treat animals, adding that he would push for similar laws to
be implemented across the European Union.
The animal protection spokesman for the Socialists, Ulrike Sima, said it was
a "day of joy" for Austria and her counterpart for the Greens, Brigid
Weinzinger, said the law signalled that "Austrian society has bettered itself".
The most controversial aspect of the law concerned the slaughtering of
animals according to religious practices. The far-Right Freedom Party, the main
supporter of the law, had called for a total ban but, under a compromise deal,
the
rules now state that suffering must be cut from "three minutes to just a few
seconds" through the administration of tranquillisers.
-----------------------------
Robert Paul
Reed College
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
