Animal welfare criticism - Court allows cattle transport despite state decree
Despite a decree issued by the state Ministry of Agriculture against the transportation of cattle to countries outside the EU, an administrative court has permitted such transportation. The Osnabrück Administrative Court granted the urgent application of an entrepreneur and thus overturned a ban issued by the district of Emsland on the transportation of 105 pregnant cattle to Morocco, a spokeswoman announced on Tuesday.
The animals were to be transported to the North African country on December 18 and 19. The decision of the Osnabrück administrative judges is not yet legally binding and can be appealed to the Higher Administrative Court of Lower Saxony.
The district had been instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture to ban the transport. The ministry had issued a decree to significantly restrict the transportation of cattle to non-EU countries, which is controversial from an animal welfare perspective.
In the view of the Osnabrück Administrative Court, however, neither the district nor the state ministry are responsible for such a decree. The Ministry only has the option of working towards the issue of a corresponding ordinance by the Federal Ministry, according to the reasoning.
The administrative judges argued that there must be a concrete risk of an animal welfare violation for a ban on cattle transportation. However, the contested decision did not contain any concrete evidence of this.
The animals are destined for a dairy cooperative in Morocco. The Ministry in Hanover assumes that the animals will sooner or later be slaughtered without stunning in Morocco and other countries. In the opinion of the administrative court, however, it is not sufficient for the authorities to simply make a blanket reference to the risk of such slaughter for a transport ban. There must be a specific risk for a transport ban. The authorities in Germany must provide this proof.
However, it is not the task of the transporter to prove that there are no violations of German animal welfare law in Morocco, according to the Administrative Court.
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- Despite the controversy surrounding the transportation of cattle to non-EU countries, such as Morocco, from the District of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, due to animal welfare concerns, an administrative court in Osnabrück allowed the transport of 105 pregnant cattle to Morocco recently.
- The Administrative Court in Osnabrück, Germany, reasoned that the district and state ministry are not responsible for issuing a decree to restrict cattle transportation to non-EU countries and can only work towards a corresponding ordinance from the Federal Ministry.
- The Ministry of Agriculture in Hanover, Germany, expressed concerns that the animals, destined for a dairy cooperative in Morocco, may be slaughtered without stunning, which is against European Union regulations.
- The German administrative judges argued that a transport ban can only be issued if there is a concrete risk of animal welfare violation, but the contested decision did not contain any concrete evidence of such a risk.
- The Osnabrück Administrative Court also stated that it is not the responsibility of the transporter to prove that there are no violations of German animal welfare law in Morocco, but it is the duty of the German authorities to provide proof of a specific risk for a transport ban.
Source: www.stern.de
