Debašu stenogramma

Otrdiena, 2017. gada 14. marts - Strasbūra

7.11. Lauksaimniecības trušu aizsardzības standartu minimums (A8-0011/2017 - Stefan Eck)

Ustne wyjaśnienia dotyczące głosowania

  Alex Mayer (S&D). – Mr President, they say that Britain is a nation of animal lovers and I think that the 20 000 plus emails that have bounded into my inbox over the last couple of weeks – all about rabbits – pay testament to that. My constituents are angry that 99% of Europe’s farmed rabbits are kept squashed into tiny wire cages. The rabbits cannot run or hop or hide as they naturally do in the wild. The EU has rightly banned similar cages for hens. Now let us seize the opportunity to improve animal welfare again. It is time to end the cage age.

  Paul Brannen (S&D). – Mr President, I am pleased to say that all of the British Labour MEPs voted today in favour of minimum standards for farmed rabbits across the European Union. I myself received over 20 000 emails calling for support for minimum legislation in relation to farmed rabbits. I also received a large number of pictures of rabbits, drawn by children from across the European Union, in calls for support for action in this area. I would like to congratulate Compassion in World Farming on a very successful campaign.

There are over 300 million farmed rabbits in the European Union, which means there are more farmed rabbits than there are men in the European Union, and those farmed rabbits are living in cages no bigger than two sheets of A4 paper. It simply is not acceptable. We no longer have battery hens: the time has come to end farmed rabbits.

  Molly Scott Cato (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, I have also received thousands of emails from constituents who have joined Compassion in World Farming in calling for legal protection for farmed rabbits across the EU.

A recent report by researchers from Bristol University found that current legislation does not adequately address the welfare needs of rabbits. Unlike other farm animals, there are no minimum standards specific to them, yet rabbits are the second most farmed animal in the EU. Every year over 340 million rabbits are farmed, many of them confined in cramped and foul conditions to be slaughtered for meat. These inhumane conditions also facilitate the spread of disease, leading farmers to use alarming amounts of antibiotics. As we know, antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious public health risks facing our world today.

We must move towards lower-intensity and more compassionate farming methods to safeguard the well—being of rabbits and other farmed animals and to improve the health of our population.

  Igor Šoltes (Verts/ALE). – Torej kot je rekel kolega, to je povprečna površina, ki jo ima na voljo gojeni kunec, manj kot dva lista A4 formata. V takšnih nesprejemljivih pogojih živi kar 99 procentov celotne populacije gojenih kuncev. Vsako leto jih gre v zakol več kot 340 milijonov in njihovo življenje do zakola je žalostno in kruto životarjenje v pretesnih in dotrajanih kletkah, kjer so dokazano izpostavljeni zelo zelo slabim razmeram.

Zato pozdravljam minimalne standarde za zaščito gojenih kuncev, ki pomenijo, da se postopoma odpravijo baterijska reja in žičnate kletke in da se uvede gojenje kuncev v prosti ali talni reji s travo kot glavnim virom prehrane.

Pozdravljam tudi dejstvo, da poročilo poziva k spoštovanju ugotovitev Evropske agencije za varnost hrane in Svetovne organizacije za zdravje živali, zato seveda sem v tem delu podprl poročilo, ki je nujen korak v smeri prizadevanj za bolj humane razmere in seveda pustimo zajčkom živeti.

  Przewodniczący. – Niniejszym zamykam wyjaśnienia dotyczące głosowania.