D: Majority in favour of undercover investigations at livestock farms
Over 80 percent of the population in Germany supports the making of undercover recordings at agricultural operations in order to expose animal suffering and abuses. This is shown by the results of a representative Emnid survey commissioned by animal rights organisations and conducted last week.
Over 80 percent of the population in Germany supports the making of undercover recordings at agricultural operations in order to expose animal suffering and abuses. This is shown by the results of a representative Emnid survey commissioned by animal rights organisations and conducted last week.
85% in favour of stronger controls
The survey found that the majority of German society (85.3%) is in favour of stronger inspections at agricultural operations. In addition, 82% of respondents consider the covert creation and subsequent dissemination of footage to expose animal suffering and abuses to be justified. The results stand in stark contrast to recent statements by the CDU and FDP, which are calling for harsher punishment of activists who secretly enter agricultural premises to make undercover recordings — even when it is only through such recordings that cases of animal cruelty are brought to light.
Courts back animal rights activists
From a legal standpoint, too, the demands of the CDU and FDP are untenable. Contrary to what has been claimed, the covert filming of videos at agricultural operations does not constitute the criminal offence of burglary, but at most amounts to trespassing. Furthermore, landmark rulings were recently handed down by the Federal Court of Justice and the Naumburg Higher Regional Court in favour of animal rights activists. Both courts ruled in support of the creation and dissemination of the footage.
There have been and continue to be repeated cases of illegal conditions and animal cruelty in German facilities. Despite legal regulations and inspections, these cases are rarely reported. Responsible oversight bodies and authorities often only took action after the publication of undercover investigations. More on animal rights.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
