Vienna (OTS) – In the case of the abuses in an AMA-certified pig fattening farm in the district of Korneuburg, Provincial Councilor Gottfried Waldhäusl (FPÖ) today, Wednesday, 29.6.2022 raised serious accusations against the concerned supervising veterinarian. The politician accused the veterinarian of having neglected his legal duties to ensure animal welfare and accused the veterinarian concerned and other veterinarians* in Lower Austria of money-making and unlawful behavior.
“This is an unobjective blanket condemnation that we firmly reject,” emphasized veterinary chamber president Mag. Kurt Frühwirth in an initial reaction to the apparently baseless accusations, and went on to say, “As a trained farmer, the state councilor should know who bears responsibility for a farm and the animals kept there.” It would be probably beyond doubt that still the farmer for its illegal behavior, its grievances and omissions carried the responsibility.
To draw veterinarians into complicity here or even to criminalize them is to be strictly rejected, he said. “Soon also no more veterinaries*innen will find themselves around agricultural enterprises to care for, that does itself soon nobody more,” so Frühwirth. Besides the Nutztierpraktiker*innen lack would already be apparent anyway. Whoever sees veterinarians as a problem and does not want to recognize them with their expertise as part of the solution is on the wrong track. “And if now again, neither a production failure nor a control failure on the part of the responsible persons is recognized and the blame on the care veterinary surgeon is shifted, then this is probably characteristic for the quality of the discussion”, criticizes Frühwirth.
The contractually secured veterinary care within the framework of the animal health services is regulated by the TGD ordinance, whereby the legally compliant use of medications is in the foreground here. The twice-yearly farm surveys that are mandatory in a pig fattening operation are in no way a substitute for centralized, seamless, continuous monitoring and official control. In the vast majority of cases, the farmer responsible for a defect is often left without any consequences.
“Supervising veterinarians are no control organs”
A veterinary “control function” going beyond that, as it is always seen on the part of the policy with the supervising veterinarians, is simply not possible and/or is this incompatible. Of course, conditions relevant to animal welfare are pointed out and reported, but often there is a lack of seriousness and consistency to change something in the system. Politics must not only speak out clearly in favor of transparency, but also admit to serious consequences in the event of violations. It is also up to them to create the legal framework for this, such as allowing a high degree of transparency and higher visit frequencies. In addition, those responsible would also have to be prepared to finance them.
Frühwirth concludes by making it clear: “A reaction instead of simply distancing oneself is required. The accumulation of pig scandals cannot be met with conventional measures. It is high time for a so-called pig summit. The veterinary surgeon chamber shows up ready for discussion in any case to it.
Mag. Silvia Stefan Gromen, Austrian veterinary surgeon chamber,
department chief media & communication, Tel. 01/ 512 17 66 DW 41
email: [email protected]
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