Cows in a Bertrange field

Photo: Luxembourg Times



The initial plan for Luxembourg's animal welfare act, dating back to 1983, was to amend and update the text, however everything changed following a parliamentary vote on Wednesday.

Officially the Grand Duchy will no longer regard animals simply as "creatures" but as "non-human beings who feel pain." This followed a unanimous vote by all MPs in favour of a new animal welfare act proposed by Fernand Etgen, agriculture minister and member of the democratic (DP) party.

Etgen stated that he believes the new act is one of the "most modern in Europe".

Fellow DP member Gusty Graas, who brough the act before parliament, took it a step further stating that Luxembourg is even breaking through the "sound barrier" with the new animal welfare act.

The principal points of Luxembourg's new animal welfare act are:

Prohibition to kill or have an animal killed unnecessarily

Obligation to rescue a suffering, injured or endangered animal

The killing of an animal can only be done after stunning

(except for hunting and recreational fishing)

(except for hunting and recreational fishing) The prohibition of owning certain animals

Specific obligations for any person owning an animal

(giving food and water, appropriate care for the species and adequate care in case of illness or injury)

The Greens criticise

But despite the unanimous vote there was still some level criticism, especially from Déi Gréng (The Greens).

Member of the Greens Gérard Anzia was of the opinion that it is a "progressive law" even though it seemed to be the stuff of "nation branding".

He stated that he could have imagined the agriculture minister would have gone one step further with his draft for some points.

Photo: AFP

An example of this, for Anzia, is the law on animal experiments. The green politician would like to see researchers increasingly looking for alternatives to animal testing and an ethics council analyse all projects beforehand to keep experiments to a minimum. In the long term there should be a complete ban of animal testing, he continued.

As more and more research has taken place in Luxembourg in recent years, the number of animal experiments recently increased rapidly.

In the case of animal transport, the green parliamentarian would have preferred stricter rules. Although transport is regulated EU-wide, the entire concept must be examined critically, he said.

Anzia sees possible alternatives with mobile slaughterhouses, while Roy Reding (ADR) advocates for slaughtering within the Grand Duchy before transporting abroad. This would save the animals the stress of long journeys.

Aly Kaes (CSV) argued similarly. He suggested that a poultry slaughterhouse be established in Luxembourg at the very least, which would be better for the chickens, as well as farmers who would also benefit from such a facility.

Gérard Anzia also saw room for improvement in cattle farming. In his opinion, the compulsory grazing of cattle should have been anchored in the new animal welfare act.

Make animal welfare visible

Cécile Hemmen (LSAP) called for "animal welfare to become more visible".

She suggested that an internet portal be created combining all information on animal welfare and could act as "contact point".

Hemmen's demand was immediately heard. In his speech, the agriculture minister concluded that in the coming days, a broad-based information campaign on the new animal welfare law will commence.

All information on animal welfare will be available on the internet portal www.deiereschutzgesetz.lu.