KAGfreiland
| KAGfreiland | |
|---|---|
|
|
| founding | 1972 |
| Seat |
St. Gallen Switzerland
|
| main emphasis | Animal welfare |
| method | Projects , campaigns , lobbying , public relations |
| Action space | whole of German-speaking Switzerland and a few cantons of Ticino and French -speaking Switzerland |
| Website | www.kagfreiland.ch |
KAGfreiland is a non-profit organization that has been committed to the welfare of farm animals in Switzerland since 1972 . It is one of the smaller but oldest animal welfare organizations in Switzerland and introduced the first label for eggs from animal-friendly production in 1972. Even today, the label stands for the strictest animal husbandry guidelines in Switzerland. The organization is politically and religiously neutral. The focus of activities is on animal projects and campaigns to improve the conditions for keeping livestock .
history
The KAG (Consumer Work Group) was founded by chance in 1972. The painter Lea Hürlimann discovered a fist-sized plug of pus while preparing a purchased calf's lung. Out of anger and curiosity, she carried out private research, which led to the realization that diseases caused by inappropriate calf fattening are not uncommon. Hürlimann informed the public and started protest actions in Zurich. A short newspaper article unexpectedly gave her widespread support.
In the following years, guidelines were drawn up for producers on the one hand. On the other hand, the association campaigned politically for the abolition of caging for chickens and for misleading egg declarations such as “farm eggs” or “fresh from the farm”. In 1973 the association launched free-range eggs, which were sold under the newly created KAG label. From 1975 KAG meat was also offered, later also dairy products.
In 1992 the association succeeded in banning the caging of chickens in laying batteries for egg production in Switzerland . In 1999 he began to achieve improvements in livestock husbandry with his own research projects.
Since 2008, the organization has also carried out campaigns in which it fights against abuses in animal husbandry and raises public awareness. With the “Stop Cage Meat” campaign, KAGfreiland achieved in the same year that rabbit meat from cages must be declared. In 2016 the abbreviation KAG was officially reinterpreted as “Consistently kept species-appropriate”.
activities
The association is committed to the welfare of farm animals on a broad front. It carries out campaigns and projects, carries out educational work, and produces and sells KAGfreiland products in cooperation with around 150 farms.
Animal projects
With the animal projects, practical alternatives for animal-friendly and economical animal husbandry are developed. Since 2017, “Has im Gras” has been developing a species-appropriate, practical and economical rabbit husbandry outdoors. The “Alpine pasture pigs” project shows that pigs can also be kept in a species-appropriate manner on the alp and can thus make a valuable contribution to the economy and ecology of alpine farming .
Campaigns
KAGfreiland has been doing campaign work since 2008. It deals with almost all aspects of farm animals, from animal husbandry to the consumption of animal products. So makes «Sauwohl !?" draws attention to grievances in today's pig farming It shows how pigs are fattened today and what constitutes a species-appropriate husbandry. A high level of appreciation for livestock is also expressed in the fact that it is used as completely and as high-quality as possible after slaughter. The “All of it - enjoyment with brain and heart” campaign takes this into account, which has been raising awareness among consumers since 2015 with information, recipes from top chefs, restaurant weeks and eat-ins.
Label
The KAGfreiland label has the strictest animal husbandry guidelines in Switzerland and is only awarded to companies that already produce in accordance with Bio Suisse guidelines . The KAGfreiland farms are checked for compliance with the guidelines with unannounced farm inspections by an independent body, since 2018 by the STS inspection service .
See also
Web links
- Official website of KAGfreiland
- Official animal husbandry guidelines KAGfreiland
- Evaluation in a label comparison
- Hürlimann, Lea / Studer, Heinzpeter: Animal use - animal welfare? ISBN 3-9521426-0-3
- Article Tagesanzeiger: This is how spurned meat gets back on the plate , November 3, 2015