Germans want more animal welfare: federal government ignores the clear will of the population

Germany likes to call itself a nation of animal welfare.

A representative survey of more than 1’500 participants now shows that this claim is not fulfilled in reality. The survey was commissioned in January 2026 by the organisation Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society International) and carried out by the polling institute Ipsos. The result is unequivocal: four out of five respondents stated that animal welfare is very important or important to them. At the same time, a deep gap yawns between this social value and actual policy.

Politics far behind the population

Only 21.7 per cent of respondents believe that the federal government is currently doing enough for animal welfare. Almost two thirds expect significantly more commitment from the CDU-led government. Remarkably, almost half of the surveyed CDU/CSU voters also wish that their own government would become considerably more active on animal welfare. Animal welfare is therefore not a left-right issue – it is a broad social consensus.

Sylvie Kremerskothen Gleason, national director of Humane World for Animals Germany, sums it up: «People are far ahead of politics. Animal welfare has a firm place at the heart of society, even beyond party-political boundaries. There is a clear mandate for the animals that our political decision-makers must take seriously.»

Clear rejection of trophy hobby hunting

The finding regarding trophy hobby hunting is particularly explosive: Germany is by far the largest importer of hunting trophies of protected animal species within the entire EU – surpassed worldwide only by the USA. Between 2015 and 2024, 7,151 trophies of protected species were imported into Germany. The report clearly demonstrates that the majority of the population rejects this practice. Hobby hunters who shoot elephants, lions or other endangered animal species and bring the body parts home as trophies cannot count on social acceptance.

This fits into a broader picture: in the public perception, animal rights and the protection of wild animals rank far above the interests of a small lobby of hobby hunters.

What people concretely demand

The survey also reveals concrete demands from the public. Seven out of ten respondents support a nationwide mandatory neutering requirement for free-roaming cats – a measure widely regarded as long overdue given the millions of stray cats in Germany. Four out of five respondents also favour a mandatory labelling requirement on processed foods that clearly indicates which type of eggs were used – whether caged, barn, free-range or organic eggs.

The message of the survey is unmistakable: the debate is no longer about whether animals should be better protected, but about how consistently this will finally be implemented politically.

Federal government under pressure

The 2026 Animal Welfare Barometer comes at a politically delicate moment. While the new federal government has clearly decided in favour of the hobby hunting lobby on the hunting act – for instance regarding the inclusion of the wolf in the federal hunting act – the survey shows that this course runs diametrically counter to the declared will of the population. Treating animal welfare as “niche politics”, as the study attests of the current government, cannot be justified democratically.

The full Humane World for Animals 2026 Animal Welfare Barometer is freely accessible on the organisation's website. The nature conservation debate in Germany will take on a new dimension thanks to such figures.