Document type : Podcast of Accents d'Europe broadcast by RFI (19 min 30 s)
Author: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff, Pierre Benazet, Céline Beal, Diane Cambon, Emeline Vin, Benjamin Ribout
Preview: Animal welfare is an integral part of the EU's new strategy for healthier and more sustainable food. It has committed itself to a comprehensive review of all its animal welfare legislation by the end of 2023. In Austria, the public debate has already taken hold on the issue of pig farming. In what is one of the country's leading agricultural sectors, almost three million pigs are produced for fewer than nine million inhabitants. And here, too, it was the public who got things moving with a plebiscite signed by 400,000 people. As a result, the parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to improve the living conditions on pig farms.
Joint custody for your dog or cat? For Spanish couples who separate, this issue can now be settled by the court! Since the beginning of the year, a new law in Spain gives the right for pets to be considered as "living beings with sentience". They are protected under the law in the event of disputes between their owners.
In Ireland, since the Covid-19 pandemic began, animal protection associations have been warning of the risks of animal adoptions during lock-down, particularly that of abandonment when people return to a normal life. Despite this, the country now faces a sorry situation - never before have so many donkeys been abandoned or mistreated. It is estimated that there are between 5 and 10,000 donkeys in Ireland, a legacy of the country's agricultural and rural past.
In the Carpathian Mountains of Roumania, the problem of bears is not new. With a bear population of just over 6,000, it is the country with the most bears in Europe after Russia. They not only attack flocks, but can sometimes also attack shepherds. Over the past three years, about a hundred incidents have been recorded. However, for the past two years, a charitable organisation has been equipping shepherds with Romanian-bred dogs.
