German Animal Welfare Association
| German Animal Welfare Association | |
|---|---|
|
|
| legal form | registered association |
| founding | 1881 |
| Seat | Bonn ( ⊙ ) |
| purpose | Animal welfare |
| Chair | Thomas Schröder |
| sales | 20,174,780 euros (2018) |
| Employees | 137 (2018) |
| Members | 744 animal welfare associations with more than 800,000 members |
| Website | www.tierschutzbund.de |
The German Animal Welfare Association was founded in 1881 as an umbrella organization for animal welfare associations and animal shelters in Germany and is based in Bonn. He pursues the idea of animal welfare and campaigns against the abuse of animals. It is registered as an interest group in the lobby list of the German Bundestag .
history
The first German animal welfare association was founded in December 1837 by the Protestant pastor Albert Knapp in Stuttgart . Corresponding associations emerged in quick succession in the rest of the German Confederation . In 1881 (according to other information, 1884) the "Association of Animal Welfare Associations of the German Empire" was founded, which was to serve as the umbrella organization and "central body" of German animal welfare associations, also abroad. By 1913, the association was able to win 222 of the 413 German animal welfare associations as corporate members. From its founding until his death in 1927, the Cologne businessman Otto Hartmann was chairman. The association sometimes referred to itself as the "Otto Hartmann Bund".
In the Reich Criminal Code of May 15, 1871 (Section 360 No. 13), the only violation threatened with punishment was anyone who “viciously tortures or mistreated animals in public or in an annoying manner.” So only people's feelings were protected, not animals themselves. The animal welfare associations therefore demanded a further strengthening of animal welfare and, in particular, a ban on vivisection . In 1885, with the "Gossler Decree" in Prussia, the existing provisions on vivisection were reformulated and moderately tightened. It was not until 1930, with the so-called “Grimme Decree” by the Prussian Minister of the Interior Adolf Grimme, that the regulations were tightened further, which, however, were by no means sufficient for the Association of Animal Welfare Associations.
With the seizure of power by the National Socialists was on November 24, 1933 Reich Animal Protection Act passed, which was dominated by the preparatory work of the German animal protection groups. It was one of the central early legislative measures of the early days of the regime and was also accompanied by intensive propaganda. Animal protection was justified by the representatives of the association in an anti-Semitic way (see Schächten ) and biologically , which led to the ideological proximity of the association, now known as the “Reich Animal Protection Association ”, to the National Socialists. From 1938 the Reich Animal Welfare Association was the legal top representation of the German animal welfare organization , the head of the Reich Animal Welfare Association had to approve the establishment of associations at the local level. In 1945 the Reich Animal Protection Association was dissolved.
The German Animal Welfare Association in its current form was founded in 1948. On a personal level, they remained connected to the predecessor Reich Animal Protection Association. Animal welfare was carried out on the basis of a moral obligation with regard to the human counterpart. With the emergence of the animal rights movement in Germany, numerous new animal protection and animal rights organizations have been formed since the 1980s, some of which have a much more radical approach to animal rights .
Self-image, tasks and goals
The association sums up its self-image as follows:
“Every fellow creature has the right to integrity and a species-appropriate life. We want this claim to be realized for all animals - in business, research, in private households and wherever humans interact with animals. We want animals to be protected in their natural habitats. For us, animal, nature and species protection are inextricably linked. The practical commitment to the welfare of all animals and the promotion of animal and nature conservation are central tasks of the German Animal Welfare Association. "
The main tasks are the maintenance and promotion of the animal and nature conservation idea, the further development of national and international animal and nature conservation law and the animal welfare-oriented further development of science and research. Further tasks and goals can be found in the statutes of the German Animal Welfare Association. One focus of the work of the German Animal Welfare Association is continuous lobbying . In terms of content demands of the German Animal Welfare Association alternatives to industrialized factory farms , promotes a welfare of animals in agriculture, livestock and wildlife.
The Tierschutzbund issues an animal welfare label .
In retrospect, the German Animal Welfare Association ascribes the following legal changes as its successes in Germany due to its activities:
- Change in the Civil Code : As a result of an amendment to the law to improve the legal status of animals in civil law since 1990, animals are not only considered " things " ( § 90a BGB)
- Anchoring animal protection in the Basic Law ( Art. 20a GG )
- Germany-wide reduction in travel intervals for animal transports ; internationally to a maximum of eight hours
- Gradual animal testing ban for cosmetics in the European Union
- Abolition of EU export subsidies for the export of live cattle for slaughter in third countries
- Abolition of laying batteries for chickens
Structural structure
The current president of the association is Thomas Schröder . His predecessor was Wolfgang Apel , who held the office of Honorary President from 2011 until his death in 2017.
The association's headquarters are in Bonn. Among other things, member care , public relations and Findefix , the pet register of the German Animal Welfare Association, are located with her. With more than 740 affiliated local animal welfare associations in 16 regional associations and over 550 animal shelters owned by the association, the association represents more than 800,000 animal rights activists.
The Academy for Animal Welfare in Neubiberg near Munich works on the technical principles of animal welfare work . It maintains a research laboratory for the further development of methods that do not involve animal testing, is home to various specialist lecturers in the fields of pets, agriculture, animal experiments, species protection, animal shelters and law, and offers training and further education events.
In order to have a stronger influence on animal welfare policy, the association has also had an office in Berlin since 2008 .
The association is also active in other locations. This includes the animal, nature and youth center in Weidefeld near Kappeln in Schleswig-Holstein , whose employees take care of animals that are not kept in a species-appropriate manner and wild animals in need, among other things. In this regard, he maintains various reception facilities such as the Lissi-Lüdemann-Haus for dogs in need and in need. The animal, nature and species protection center on Sylt is connected to the animal protection center Weidefeld with, for example, an initial reception center for injured or oily sea birds and an information center for animal and species protection. On a 25,000 m² forest area near Anholt on the Lower Rhine near the Dutch border, the German Animal Welfare Association and the International Bear Federation operate a sanctuary for big bears . In Odessa ( Ukraine ) he also runs an animal welfare and castration center, which is a model in Eastern Europe.
The association is networked with various partner organizations at national and international level. He is a member of the German Nature Conservation Ring .
Products of animal origin are labeled with the association's two-tier animal welfare label, "For More Animal Welfare". The animal welfare label has been on the market since the beginning of 2013 and pork and chicken products as well as eggs and dairy products with the animal welfare label are now available in stores.
The German Animal Welfare Association finances its non-profit work from donations , membership fees, inheritances and investment income. He does not receive any government support. He is a founding member of the German Donation Council and, as part of this membership, has committed himself to the transparent use of funds and compliance with ethical standards in donation advertising. It has been audited by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) since 2007 . Since then, the German Animal Welfare Association has been awarded the DZI donation seal annually.
Animal welfare youth
The animal welfare youth is also affiliated with the association. This is an offer for children and young people and is intended to interest young people in animal welfare. Among other things, there is information material suitable for children, a youth portal with topics relating to animal welfare and hands-on activities. There is also cooperation with various schools. It is also possible to complete further training as an animal welfare teacher. The Academy for Animal Welfare of the German Animal Welfare Association has been awarding the Adolf Hempel Youth Animal Welfare Prize every two years since 2001 to honor young animal rights activists for their commitment. The German Animal Welfare Association also publishes the members' magazine du und das tier .
Web links
- Website Deutscher Tierschutzbund eV
- Literature of the German Animal Welfare Association in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Constantly updated version of the public list on the registration of associations and their representatives ( PDF ; 5.85 MB) German Bundestag . January 28, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
- ^ Statutes of the Association of Animal Welfare Associations of the German Reich eV (Otto Hartmann-Bund), founded on September 24, 1884. Issued in 1930.
- ↑ Herwig Grimm, Carola Otterstedt: The animal itself: interdisciplinary perspectives for new ways in science-based animal welfare. ISBN 9783525404478
- ↑ Camillo Schaufuss : The Association of Animal Welfare Associations of the German Empire. Brief outline of the history of animal welfare and the German Reich Animal Welfare from November 24, 1933.
- ^ Edeltraud Klueting: The legal regulations of the National Socialist Reich government for animal welfare, nature conservation and environmental protection . In: Joachim Radkau, Frank Uekötter (ed.): Nature Conservation and National Socialism , Frankfurt / New York (Campus Verlag) 2003, pp. 104f.
- ^ Reichs-Gesetzblatt - Volume 1, Part 2, page 1004.
- ^ Madeleine Martin: The development of animal protection and its organizations in the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and German-speaking countries. Dissertation. Free University of Berlin, 1989, p. 30.
- ^ Mieke Roscher: Animal protection and animal rights movement - a historical outline. From Politics and Contemporary History (APuZ), 9–10 / 2012. On-line
- ↑ Tasks and goals of the organization
- ↑ Statutes of the German Animal Welfare Association. Accessed on March 23, 2018 .
- ↑ EU adopts animal testing ban for cosmetics. ORF , accessed on December 25, 2013 .
- ↑ Chronology: Fight for the ban on cages. German Animal Welfare Association, accessed on March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ SWR of January 19, 2017: Label for meat - How can animal welfare be measured?
- ↑ Bayerischer Rundfunk from January 23, 2014: Animal-friendly husbandry - observations in stables and at sales counters ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )