Disregard for animal rights: the situation with regard to kennels in Europe
11.10.2010
Question for written answer E-8601/2010
to the Commission
Rule 117
Vincenzo Iovine (ALDE)
Many kennels in Europe have no regard for animals’ rights. Animal welfare organisations have produced evidence indicating that:
- —sick and injured dogs do not receive adequate treatment;
- —dogs are crowded together in confined conditions which are unsuited to their nature, and sometimes die of hunger or thirst;
- —in many cases there is no possibility of such dogs being adopted because the public are prevented from having access to kennels, which in effect become prisons in which dogs are condemned to spend the rest of their lives and die a cruel death.
Often, kennels play a part in new kinds of illegal activities involving trafficking in animals and gambling, particularly in Puglia, Lazio, Campania, Calabria and Sicily, but also in many cases in Northern Italy and other European countries.
Since Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognises that animals are sentient beings, and bearing in mind the position expressed by European Parliament in its Resolution of 5 May 2010 on the evaluation and assessment of the animal welfare action plan 2006-2010 (2009/2202(INI)),
1. Is the Commission aware of the state of affairs outlined above?
2. Is the EU adopting measures to remedy this situation and thus prevent problems of this kind from recurring elsewhere in the European Union?
3. Does the Commission believe it would be appropriate to harmonise the penalties introduced by some Member States to deter people from maltreating and abandoning animals?
OJ C 249 E, 26/08/2011