Major effect when it comes to slatted floor farming: The Constitutional Court (VfGH) on Monday lifted the transition period until 2040 for the ban on fully slatted floors in pig farming. The Supreme Court ruled that the period of seventeen years was too long and objectively unjustified. The question remains whether life as a pig in Austria will get better any faster. Animal rights activists see at least partial success.
In principle, the corresponding clause in the Animal Protection Act will now expire on June 1, 2025 – what then?
Ban on new businesses is already in effect
If a new pig farm is built, the ban adopted by the National Council in 2022 will be in effect since early 2023. A transition period until 2040 has been introduced for existing stables to give agricultural businesses planning certainty and protect investments. made, the federal government said at the time.
But here the Constitutional Court is now throwing a spanner in the works. The Supreme Court explains that the duration of 17 years is not objectively justified given the balance between investment protection and animal protection. This means that the focus is one-sided on investment protection, i.e. animal welfare did not receive sufficient attention here.
The Supreme Court rules that competition is distorted
The Supreme Court is also critical of the fact that the transition period applies across the board to all companies, regardless of when the investments were made. The operators of new systems would also have higher costs than existing operations due to the higher standards that apply to them. The Constitutional Court ruled that this would lead to unequal competition, which would last seventeen years with the transition period.
Burgenland was right on the second attempt. In December 2022, a first complaint against fully slatted floors in pig farming was rejected because it was “too narrow”. At the time, the contested provisions were amended by the federal government after the complaint was received, which, according to the Constitutional Court, should also have challenged the new regulations. Last April, the country again went to the Constitutional Court against the transition period.
Is a pig’s life getting better in Austria?
So much for the legal component, but will the lives of pigs in Austria be better now? Animal rights activists see at least partial success.
For Sebastian Bohrn Mena, initiator of the animal welfare initiative and spokesperson for the successor initiative oekoreich, a groundbreaking judgment has been made: “Profit should not take precedence over the welfare of the animals. The Constitutional Court has now also established this and thus opens the next round in the battle for an early end to fully rostered floors. We resume the battle now!”
The Association Against Animal Factories (VGT) simply described keeping animals on slatted floors, regardless of the animal species, as animal abuse. In addition to the constant strain on the respiratory tract caused by the rising ammonia, the animals suffer repeated injuries to their paws from lying on the hard ground – leading to increased administration of antibiotics to prevent the wounds from becoming infected.
“Abolition of the slatted floor system”
VGT chairman Martin Balluch explained to krone.at that the abolition of the transition period could well be seen as “the abolition of the slatted floor system”: “If this husbandry system were adequate, it would last forever. Unfortunately, this is not explicitly stated.”
However, points from the application were rejected by the VfGH that would have actually improved animal welfare, such as straw litter or a change in the minimum space per animal. “The Constitutional Court says that these applications were legally inconsistent.” This can be improved further. “Yet I am convinced that the Constitutional Court cannot simply be ignored in a functioning democracy,” Balluch said. The federal government will now have to make the necessary changes to the law.
“Transition period simply unacceptable”
Veronika Weissenböck, Four Paws campaign leader when it comes to slatted floors, described the decision as a “milestone for Austrian animal protection”: “A 17-year transition period for farms in which pigs have to be on fully slatted floors that are cruel to animals is simply unacceptable, especially as it will also be targeted funding for these farms, which is necessary and welcome.”
According to Vier Pfoten, the Constitutional Court’s conclusion also corresponds to the will of the Austrian people: “In an online survey by Integral last year, a total of 91 percent were in favor of a ban on fully slatted floors.”
Viennese animal protection ombudsman Eva Persy was in a similar vein: “The VfGH ruling is groundbreaking and a great success – not only for animals and animal protection, but for us as an enlightened society as a whole. Because it confirms what many people have already condemned on moral grounds: that it is unjustifiable to put economic considerations above the well-being of living beings.
The request came from Burgenland
People were especially happy with the decision in Burgenland, because the state government there was responsible for the application. The black-green federal government decided to ban completely slatted floors “as an alibi, but postponed its entry into force until 2040 and at the same time made it dependent on an opaque evaluation process,” explains Governor Hans Peter Doskozil. The VfGH has now put an end to this practice.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
