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<\/p>\nFOUR PAWS EUROPEAN POLICY OFFICE:
\n“Big success at the European Parliament: Written Declaration 26 on dog population management adopted!”
\ndate of publication: 13 October 2011<\/p>\n
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Brussels 13 October: After four months the Written Declaration No 26 on dog population management in the European Union has gained more than the majority of the Members of the European Parliament. With this result the Representatives of the European citizens have recognized officially the harm of the growing number of unwanted animals in Europe and solution strategies and want the EU Commission to be active.<\/p>\n
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The adopted Written Declaration 26 Initiated on 06th of June by Daciana S\u00e2rbu (Romania\/S&D), Adina Valean (Romania\/ALDE), Elisabeth Jeggle (Germany\/EPP, Romeva i Rueda (Spain\/Grens), and Janusz Wojciechowski (Poland\/ECR) provides the possibility for the European Parliament to call on the European Commission to do an assessment of the situation of dogs, consider companion animals within the new Animal Welfare Strategy and the Animal Health Legislation. \u201cHerewith we have reached a big next step towards dog responsible ownership measures in Europe\u201d said Marlene Wartenberg, European Policy Director of VIER PFOTEN, Brussels.\u201d And we are glad to such a good result after four months of giving intensively information in Brussels and Strassburg by a good teamwork together with the Eurogroup for Animals and IFAW\u201d.<\/p>\n
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There are estimated 120 millions of stray animals in Europe, and only the adoption of comprehensive dog population management strategies and the promotion of responsible dog ownership will allow to control the number of unwanted dogs. The uncontrolled growing canine overpopulation and the lack of common standards for dog population management in the EU poses a threat to community health and safety by uncontrolled spread of diseases from dogs to other animals and to men and leads to enormous suffering of the animals.<\/p>\n
Most importantly Written Declaration No 26 calls on the European Commission to ensure that the principle of Article 13 of the Treaty to recognize animals as \u201csentient beings\u201d will be respected by Member States. A first step to be done is the identification and registration of all dogs and cats in the future. To have responsible owners will allow to manage dog population and help to avoid cruel mass killing of stray dogs and illegal puppy trade. Indeed, Identification and Registration will permit a better traceability and consequently a better health of dogs and men.<\/p>\n
Press Release: French<\/a><\/p>\n