Austrian Pig Breeding: A Case for the People's Lawyer!

Due to a lawyer's complaint the People's Lawyer Peter Kostelka and his TV camera crew have taken up the issue of farrowing crates used in pig breeding to be aired in their show later this month

The Austrian Animal Welfare Law states that "animals must have space enough to meet their physiological and ethological needs". As a complete contradiction to this the byelaws on pig husbandry allow the use of farrowing crates. The legislative body has contradicted itself in that a byelaw cannot be at odds with points set out in the overriding law.

The German Constitutional Court made two rulings in 1999 and 2010 to annul byelaws allowing battery cages for laying hens as not conforming to law. The grounds for the rulings were that battery cages contradict general requirements set out in the German Animal Welfare Law.

VGT calls on the responsible minister Alois Stöger to follow the example of countries such as Switzerland and Great Britain and ban the use of cruel farrowing crates in Austria.

This would ensure that the contradiction in the law be remedied. Failing this VGT hopes that the People's Lawyer takes a lead from Germany and initiates a constitutional case. Then the ball would be in the supreme court to force Minister Stöger to remedy the contradiction and to ban farrowing crates.

Farrowing crate video and photos:
http://www.vgt.at/filme/fotos/recherchen/20060928Schweine/kastenstaende/index.php