Vienna, 27.02.2019 Yesterday morning the initiative for a popular referendum on animal welfare presented its list of demands in Vienna. Nicolas Entrup, founder of Shifting Values, presented the claims together with initiator Sebastian Bohrn Mena and four other independent experts.
“Animal welfare is the desire of the people”[1] is both the initiative’s slogan and the conviction of Shifting Values. Our team has supported Sebastian Bohrn Mena over the past few months and Nicolas Entrup acted as the coordinator of the process of drawing up the initiative’s list of claims. This catalogue, which has 5 core areas, formed over several months in consultation with numerous animal and environmental protection organisations, farmers’ associations, veterinarians and other practitioners and experts:
- For an animal-friendly and sustainable agriculture
- Public funds shall promote animal welfare
- More transparency for consumers
- A better life for dogs and cats
- A strong voice for the animals
The petition for a referendum on animal welfare focuses on farm animals. The demands in this field constitute a package solution, the parts of which are interdependent. Alongside the necessary changes in animal husbandry, the claims also include the elements which make this conversion economically feasible for the farmers. This includes the procurement of higher welfare animal food products by the public sector (schools, hospitals, etc.), comprehensive animal welfare labelling and the target-oriented use of subsidies. The complete demands of the petition for a referendum can be found here (in German).
The petition can be signed beginning from 7 May 2019. Media already braodly reported and the environmental protection organisation Greenpeace and the Vienna Animal Welfare Association have already expressed their support for the petition.
[1] The German term “Volksbegehren” means both “petition for a referendum” and “desire of the people”.
