Reports on animal abuses underline the need for controls and new laws. The NVWA, thus the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, is way too mild in their approach to prevent and solve those abuses. They should have much bigger teams to supervise regularly, and across whatever category of animal holders in the Netherlands. This view is also supported by an organization called Wakker Dier.

Wakker Dier is committed to animals in livestock farming, and believes that the inspectorate should look at many more farms. Currently, they only do it on the back of risk profiling, which means that most farmers never get an inspection, which is flat out wrong. The government should provide the NVWA more means to enhance budget and manpower.

Moreover, animal welfare should not depend on the animal holder only, but should become a shared responsibility with the NVWA and the governmental bodies. Better laws and regulations are needed to take action more quickly, and reduce animal cruelty and unnecessary suffering. The current laws still have too many restrictions. Animal holders who go wrong should be able to get a permanent ban on keeping animals, not a temporary ban like now.

Source: RTV Utrecht.