BUILDING A EUROPE THAT CARES FOR ANIMALS
ANIMALS MATTER. WE MUST ALL ACT NOW.
BUILDING A EUROPE THAT CARES FOR ANIMALS
‘Far from all animal welfare issues can be dealt with at national level. Therefore it is important that all European animal welfare organizations stand united in Brussels. Eurogroup4Animals is a highly credible lobby organization that effectively promotes the welfare interests of European animals’ ~ Britta Riis, CEO, Dyrenes Beskyttelse
ANIMALS MATTER. WE MUST ALL ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEM AND GIVE THEM A VOICE. Animals are important to people: They are an important resource, important as companions, and they have a significant impact on our lives. Animal welfare affects human welfare and we need to take concrete action to drive political and societal change. The vast majority of animal welfare legislation in force in Member States today originates from the EU. As the only pan-European animal advocacy organisation, Eurogroup is a respected, go-to body with strong expertise and a proven track record over more than 30 years. It plays a vital role in demanding and upholding the highest standards of animal welfare and protection in Europe. We have the power to influence the process from both ends – in Brussels and on the ground in Member States. By joining forces we can work together to drive change and be a powerful voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Reineke Hameleers Director Eurogroup4Animals
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‘As President of the Intergroup on Animals welfare and Conservation I appreciate the knowledge and expertise Eurogroup4Animals provides to help brief and educate MEPs. It really is a central resource for animal welfare advice and information that is always reliable and trustworthy’ ~ Janusz Wojciechowski MEP, President of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals
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WHO WE ARE
Fostering cohesion, exchanging best practices and disseminating knowledge We are a facilitator, bringing together people, knowledge, expertise and campaigning capacity in support of the joint advocacy agenda and the further development of our network that goes beyond our members’ capacities.
Eurogroup4Animals is the pan-European animal advocacy organisation that unites the voices of the leading national and international animal welfare organisations. We work to improve the welfare of animals by driving and delivering coordinated advocacy and campaigns at EU level. Only by legislating at EU level can we be sure that animals will be respected as sentient beings across the 28 Member States. Eurogroup uses its knowledge and expertise to challenge EU decision makers and bring about positive change. By uniting our members and working together we magnify national initiatives to get our message across at European level.
WHAT WE DO
Eurogroup4Animals expects and demands that Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty, acknowledging the sentience and intrinsic value of animals, is valued and effected in all legislative areas and that the European Institutions include animal welfare and the humane treatment of animals as integral elements of all impact assessments and legislative proposals.
Eurogroup4Animals exists because European citizens believe animals deserve a voice. We are determined that Europe’s animals will be the beneficiaries as we continue to build our network, uphold our position of influence and #Act4Animals.
Our work focuses on five key areas and while we have achieved much we are not complacent. We have an ambitious workplan for the coming five years including 12 strategic priorities. Each area is explained in more detail below, outlining the challenge, our achievements to date and our ongoing work as a part of our strategic priorities.
OUR VISION
At Eurogroup4Animals we are passionate about building a Europe where animals are respected as individuals, where their welfare is maximised and where:
TO FIND OUT MORE
A nimal sentience is understood and recognised both legally and culturally. • Every animal lives in an environment where they can perform their natural behaviour • Cruelty to animals no longer exists • The welfare of all animals is enshrined in and protected by European legislation • Eurogroup4Animals is recognised as the partner for change, the driver for improvement and the leader in knowledge which is rational and represents the opinions of Europe’s citizens •
www.eurogroupforanimals.org eurogroupforanimals @act4animalsEU
OUR PURPOSE
Representing civil society at EU level on the subject of animal welfare As the pan-European umbrella representing animal welfare NGO’s at EU level, Eurogroup4Animals is recognized by the European Parliament, Commission and Council. We participate in all relevant EU stakeholder groups including EU advisory committees and consultation bodies and enjoy an excellent reputation. Mastery of EU advocacy and policy is an important prerequisite in maintaining this position. Campaigning to drive change in favour of animals across Europe Eurogroup4Animals acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and improve the welfare of animals at EU and member state level and to promote a sustainable future for people and animals. Our campaigns are based on strategic goals and member-driven.
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WE SPEAK FOR FARM ANIMALS 2020 Strategic goals: distance transport of live animals has ended and is better regulated with a maximum of 8 hours transport for mammals and 4 hours for poultry. •T he welfare of pigs is significantly improved through implementation and rigorous enforcement of the pigs’ directive, and that piglet castration is phased out in line with the 2010 Brussels Declaration. •C lear mandatory labelling of meat and dairy products according to the system of farming production, and the sourcing of products from production systems that ensure higher animal welfare standards. • The Commission allows only cage free farming systems. •F ur farming is banned and imports of fur into the EU are restricted and controlled. •F ish welfare in aqua systems has improved together with stunning and killing methods of wild caught and farmed fish •A nimal welfare and humane methods of slaughter are incorporated in relevant legislation such as Animal Health law.
The Challenge Today’s industrial food production means that billions of farm animals suffer in Europe every year from the point of birth to the slaughterhouse. They need to be treated with respect.
•L ong
#Act4FarmAnimals - our achievements to date Major improvements resulting from our actions include: the 1997 ban on veal crates, the 1999 ban on barren battery cages for laying hens, and the 2001 ban on sow stalls. These bans are now in force and the welfare of millions of animals has improved drastically. Ongoing work Important directives and regulations are in place but many laws have never been implemented properly or enforced effectively. Action is needed now. The law must be made a reality as it is unacceptable to allow animals to suffer where protections already exist. We will maintain momentum and take action to ensure full compliance. In addition, there is a need for new legislation for those species still unprotected such as dairy cows, rabbits and horses and Eurogroup is working on this as a priority.
Did you know?
There are 23.475 million dairy cows in the EU 28. They are central to our food production and yet there is no species specific legislation that affords them protection.
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WE ACT FOR ANIMALS USED IN LABORATORIES Ongoing work The number of animals used in laboratories continues to rise despite a Directive being in place to protect them and reduce their numbers. Eurogroup continues to work with legislators, experts and industry to ensure the protection of animals with the ultimate goal of replacing all animal experiments with viable alternatives.
The Challenge Millions of animals – including dogs, rabbits and even our closest genetic relatives, primates – are used in laboratory research throughout Europe each year. We are working to ensure an EU-wide strategy on alternatives to animal testing is developed and enforced, moving us ever closer to redundancy of animal use.
2020 Strategic goal: science is promoted and enforced by EU legislation to protect and minimise the use of animals in research and an EU-wide strategy on alternatives to animal testing applied.
#Act4LabAnimals - our achievements to date The practice of safety-testing cosmetic ingredients on animals has always been opposed by Eurogroup4Animals. Our campaigning resulted in the European Commission finally adopting a cosmetics’ Directive in 2003 which introduced deadlines for phasing out animal tests. Eurogroup worked tirelessly to ensure the final ban came into force in March 2013, despite several attempts by industry to stop it, and now the ban is spreading to other countries and regions.
Did you know?
•B etter
An estimated 12.1 million animals are used in laboratory research throughout Europe every year – including dogs, rabbits and even our closest genetic relatives, primates. In many cases alternative methods already exist.
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WE PROTECT WILD ANIMALS Ongoing work More and more people are keeping exotic animals and their trade is causing huge amounts of suffering. Eurogroup is working to minimise the number of animals traded and kept and to minimise the number of species allowed. This is to protect biodiversity, maintain natural populations, ensure human and animal health is not compromised and to allow exotic animals to live in their natural environment.
The Challenge Whether in the wild or in captivity, traded or kept as exotic pets we need to ensure that their welfare is safeguarded, habitats are protected and that our planet’s biodiversity is not put at risk #Act4Wildlife - our achievements to date As early as 1983 Eurogroup4Animals was successful in getting the EU to ban the import of skins from whitecoat and blueback seal pups. Fuelled by this success Eurogroup campaigned for a complete ban on the sale of products from seals and a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council was adopted in July 2009, banning the placing on the EU market of products from seals killed for commercial purposes.
Did you know?
2020 Strategic goals: not covered by specific legislation are protected by the best possible measures and more species are protected by species specific legislation. •T he number of exotic animals kept as pets decreases due to legislative restrictions and the trade and exploitation of wildlife in captivity is minimized. •S pecies
An estimated 4 million birds, 640,000 reptiles, 40,000 primates and 350 million tropical fish are recorded in trade each year, as part of an international industry estimated to be worth $6-billion. The animals suffer unnecessarily as they cannot be kept in the conditions that allow them to thrive. We must regulate this trade and reduce it.
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WE HELP ANIMALS KEPT AS PETS
#Act4Pets - our achievements to date It is clear that since the advent of the Pet Travel System in 2003, there has been a meteoric rise in the number of people who are using this non-commercial system for purely commercial trade in pet animals. Eurogroup successfully convinced the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2010 to push for the adoption of Council Conclusions that has led to the first ever EU-wide study into the welfare of dogs and cats, and which could yet lead to compulsory systems of identification and registration.
The Challenge It is estimated that there are around 66 million owned cats and 60 million owned dogs within the European Union. For many of us dogs and cats are valued members of our families that are loved and cared for, and that provide companionship and even assistance. Sadly however, they are still seen by too many as purely a source of income, being used only for breeding or commercial trading.
In 2015, Eurogroup also managed to ensure that from 2020 onwards, all breeder and sellers of pets will be forced to register themselves with national competent authorities. This will bring the shadowy world of breeding and sale into the light, better exposes the supply of pets. and opens the door to licencing at national level.
The European Union is also home to widely interspersed populations of stray dogs and free roaming (feral) cats. Rather than being valued, these populations have too often been the subject of indiscriminatory culling and mismanagement.
Ongoing work Alongside the mandatory registration of breeders and sellers of pets, Eurogroup4Animals believes that three other pillars underpin good cat and dog welfare across the EU, and is working to: Improve traceability of domestic cats via mandatory national identification and registration requirements, promote the responsible ownership of pets through consumer awareness programmes, and ensure that Member States have to follow best practices for the effective and humane management of stray dogs and wild cats.
Eurogroup4Animals is working to guarantee a safe, secure environment for all cats and dogs - domesticated and feral - where each and everyone is respected and prospers within their own environment.
Did you know?
There are an estimated 66 million owned cats and 60 million owned dogs in the EU today - many coming from unscrupulous breeders and an unregulated pet trade. Simple legislation would ensure that they are easily identifiable and breeders easily traced.
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WE PROTECT EQUINES #Act4Equines - Our achievements to date Eurogroup has worked with its Member Organisations, and most notably World Horse Welfare, to produce ‘Removing the Blinkers: The health and welfare of European equidae in 2015’, the first ever report to investigate the scale of the horse sector in Europe, legislation affecting it and the key health and welfare challenges of the EU’s equids. The findings of the report, among other recommendations, call for species specific legislation to protect horses, donkeys and mules who so often fall between the cracks between legislation designed for farm animals at EU level.
The Challenge Equines have a unique place in European civilisation and history. For 5000 years, they have been used for transport, haulage, construction, leisure, therapy, sport, on farms, and for companionship. Whilst this continuing diversity of use has ensured that equines have remained close to humans, it has also created problems when seeking protection for them in law. Depending on where and how they are used, equines may be legally defined as farm animals, companion animals or even wild animals. Furthermore, a single equine can cover several of these classifications within their lifetime.
Ongoing work Eurogroup4Animals is working to improve the welfare of equids, whatever their role, by pushing for: Guidance on their responsible ownership and care, improved systems of traceability, and improved transportation and slaughter conditions both within the Union and beyond its borders.
As a result, there are a number of serious equine welfare challenges across the EU, including overpopulation, irresponsible breeding, illegal trading, fly grazing, poor levels and over-use of transportation, and inhumane slaughter.
Did you know?
There are approximately seven million equidae in the EU, used for a wide variety of purposes and the equine sector provides employment to at least 896,000 people, is worth over €100 billion per annum and uses at least 2.6 million hectares of land in the EU.
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WE INFLUENCE POLICY MAKERS The Challenge Eurogroup4Animals has been campaigning for animals since 1980 when its founders recognised that the 1972 European Communities Act created opportunities to advance the interests of animal welfare in Europe
2020 strategic goal •E U free trade agreements officially recognize and adhere to animal welfare principles.
#Act4Animals - our achievements to date Eurogroup4Animals has been extremely successful in the European Parliament. In 1983 we instigated and set up the European Parliament’s most active and influential Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and we have provided the secretariat ever since. During the 2014 European Elections our #Vote4Animals raised huge awareness with candidate MEPs with over 60 MEPs registering as a member of the Intergroup as a result - an unprecedented number signing up for any Intergroup at the start of the Parliament’s mandate.
Did you know?
82% of citizens agreed that humanity has a duty to protect animals whatever the cost - Eurobarometer
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‘Eurogroup4Animals is the key stakeholder for animal welfare in Brussels. It has a level of expertise that is respected. Eurogroup reaches out to its stakeholders and the European Commission appreciates its willingness to work together with legislators to make a difference’ ~ Andrea Gavinelli, Head of the Animal Welfare Unit, DG SANTE, European Commission
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OUR GOVERANCE Our organisation Eurogroup4Animals is a membership-based organisation, democratically governed by its members. It receives its mandate from them at the General Assembly, the organisation’s supreme decision-making and oversight body which establishes its direction and adopts its Strategic Plan. It has sole power to amend the Articles of Association and elect members to the Board.
Our membership Being a Member of Eurogroup means that you: • are at the centre of the decision making process • influence the agenda of EU lobbying on Animal Welfare •s hare information, knowledge, ideas on Animal Welfare with all the key EU actors • are part of the largest animal welfare network in Europe
The General Assembly is composed of voting members from all member organisations. It delegates its authority to the Board which it elects. Currently the Board comprises representatives from nine member organisations, together with an independent President and Treasurer.
We offer three categories of membership - Full, Supporting and Partnership – and as a Eurogroup member you will receive a package of tools and benefits according to your category. These include: the capacity to steer the organisation’s governance, a seat on the working groups; Access to the weekly newsletter with all the latest news on animal welfare, in your country and elsewhere; Support and access to all communication tools and social media to support your visibility; Access and assistance in your National and EU lobby work; participation in our high level conferences; the possibility of creating partnerships on your specific issues.
They are: Peter Davies - President, Independent (UK) Britta Riis - Vice-President, Dyrenes Beskyttelse (DK) Koos Boering - Honorary Treasurer, Independent (NL) Salla Tuomivaara, Animalia (FI) Philip Lymbery, Compassion in World Farming (UK) Frank Meuser, Deutscher Tierschutzbund (DE) Frank Dales, Dierenbescherming (NL) Christophe Marie, Fondation Brigitte Bardot (FR) Michel Vandenbosch, GAIA (BE) David Bowles, RSPCA (UK) Helmut Dungler, Vier Pfoten (AT)
Our funding Since we were founded in 1980 the majority of Eurogroup4Animals funding has come from membership fees, project income and donations. As we transition from a programme-based organisation to one that is project-based we will also see funding derived from further sources.
The Board delegates operational authority to the Director who manages the secretariat of highly qualified staff with remarkable scientific, communications and management skills. The secretariat delivers according to a 5 year strategy and an annual work plan. Eurogroup operates a thematic Working Group structure which brings together experts from its membership and staff to share knowledge, best practice, innovation, define policy positions and deliver excellence. There are currently ten working groups covering: Farm produce welfare schemes, farm animals, animal experimentation, companion animals, wildlife, equine issues, fur farming, fish farming, transport and trade. As an ethical, transparent and responsible organization, Eurogroup4Animals is registered on the European Parliament’s Transparency.
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OUR FINANCES The annual accounts 2014 present a consolidated overview of Eurogroup for Animals’ and EWLA’s income and expenditure. The presentation below provides an interpretation of the officially audited and approved accounts in terms of allocation of income and expenditure. The organisation is in the process of implementing analytical bookkeeping which will be finalised in 2015. In total the income of Eurogroup amounts € 1,721,505 and the total expenditure amounts to € 1,712,341. The consolidated results shows a surplus of € 9,163.70
INCOME BREAKDOWN Miscellaneous Donations 3% 1%
Project funding 15%
Membership income 81%
EXPENDITURES BREAKDOWN Financial 3% General 29%
Programs 29%
Projects 18%
PR & membership 21%
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BUILDING A EUROPE THAT CARES FOR ANIMALS
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OUR NETWORK
ANIMAL GUARDIANS MALTA
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Join Us If you would like to know more about out work, support our work or join our network please contact us: Email: info@euroogroupforanimals.org Tel: +32 (0)2 740 08 20 Address: rue des Patriotes 6, 1000 Brussels, Belgium www.eurogroupforanimals.org eurogroupforanimals @act4animalsEU 20