Thomas Waitz (EU Member of Parliament Greens) was a guest at “Vorarlberg LIVE” on Friday.
Thomas Waitz, Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party and organic farmer, will be presenting his new film on the subject of animal transport on Friday evening at inatura Dornbirn. In the short documentary “Animal Suffering on Wheels”, Waitz impressively shows how important it is to have a strong animal protection policy and to uncover abuses in animal transport. Animal transport, animal protection and the role of the EU in this problem were the topics in the “Vorarlberg LIVE” studio.
“Sometimes I spent the day in the bushes”
“Animal suffering on four wheels.” That is the title of a short documentary that MEP Thomas Waitz (Greens) presented on Friday at Dornbirn’s inatura. As a member of a committee of inquiry in the European Parliament, Waitz has dealt extensively with animal transports across Europe. At “Vorarlberg LIVE” the organic farmer explained: “It was important to me to get a picture of myself outside.” So he went to many ports in Europe and observed the loading of animals. “Sometimes as an official visitor, sometimes I spent the day in the bushes and secretly observed what was happening there. I was on the road, with police units, with customs units, checking animal transports.” He also worked closely with civil society. Many of the film clips came from these trips.
For the MP it is clear: “There is an urgent need for enforcement of the existing laws.” At the same time, a revision is required. In some cases, the formulations are so vague that it is difficult for the authorities to find out exactly how they are to be interpreted.
The whole show
Among other things, Waitz also states that transport times for some animal species are not fixed at all or that ship transports on the Mediterranean have no time restrictions. “There are massive gaps.” In addition, some laws are simply outdated and overtaken by scientific knowledge.
The trailer for “Animal Suffering on Wheels”:
The broadcast “Vorarlberg LIVE” is a cooperation between VOL.AT, VN.at, Ländle TV and VOL.AT TV and is broadcast from Monday to Friday from 5 p.m. There’s more here.
