The overall reform of the Animal Welfare Act was completed on March 1 after the parliament's plenary session approved the bill as a new animal welfare act.
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The new law replacing the current Animal Protection Act and Decree will enter into force on January 1, 2024.
Key reforms of the law include banning the construction of farrowing pens and farrowing cages, banning surgical castration of piglets during the transition period, and intervention in puppy mills for dogs and cats with new means.
The preparation of the comprehensive reform of the Animal Protection Act was started in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 2010. The proposal for a new law on animal welfare was presented to the parliament for the first time in the fall of 2018.
However, the proposal did not have time to be discussed in the parliament at that time and it lapsed in the spring of 2019 when the election period ended.
The new bill was based on the previous bill, to which were added changes resulting from Prime Minister Sanna Marin's government program, among other things. The new presentation was given to the parliament in September 2022.
In the Animal Welfare Act replacing the Animal Protection Act and Decree, an attempt has been made to take into account recent developments in animal welfare science.
Animals should have, among other things, the opportunity to fulfill their most essential behavioral needs, and that is why we want to get rid of forms of housing that strongly restrict animal movement, such as cages and sow cages.
The construction of new farrowing sheds and fixed farrowing cages will be prohibited when the law comes into force.
The long-term use of gestation cages will be abandoned by 2035. In operating dairy farms, the outdoor exercise of dairy cows is increased by extending the obligation to exercise their feet from the previous 60 days to 90 days a year.
In addition, in connection with the preparation, it was outlined that in the future, investment support will only be granted for the construction of yards with a footing yard or pasture.
Surgical castration of piglets will be banned from the beginning of 2035. After the law comes into force, anti-inflammatory medication must be used in connection with castration, and from the beginning of 2027, local anesthesia must also be used.
The working group set up by the ministry is currently preparing an action plan to abandon castration.
The law also provides for mammal and bird species permitted as production animals, as well as animal species that can be kept in circuses or traveling animal shows.
Only those new species of animals whose keeping can be organized in accordance with the requirements of the law can be added to these so-called positive lists.
The keeping of the animal species must enable the essential behavioral needs of the species to be fulfilled, the physiological needs of the species must be satisfied, and it must be possible to arrange appropriate holding places and the necessary medical care.
In the future, the regulation level can also regulate the animal species allowed as companion and hobby animals.
The aim is to intervene in the puppy mills and trade of dogs and cats by prohibiting the importation of puppies under six months of age into Finland, if the intention is to sell them on within four months of importation. The ban aims to prevent the import of puppies produced abroad in bad conditions to Finland.
In addition, there are minimum requirements for the content of dog and cat sales advertisements. Notifications should include, for example, the registration number of the professional seller and the country where the animal for sale was born.
The regulation on animal breeding will be refined from the current one. Animal breeding should strive to produce vigorous, functional and healthy animals. The supervision of the breeding of dogs and cats will be enhanced by making it mandatory for veterinarians to report such animal defects and diseases that cause restrictions on the use of the animal for breeding.
In connection with the presentation, the Fisheries Act was also amended, to which provisions are added regarding the killing of fish and crabs caught and used as bait.
The reform of animal welfare legislation will continue with the preparation of regulation-level regulations. Among other things, the new regulations are intended to provide more detailed regulations on animal breeding and procedures performed on animals.
In addition, the current regulations of the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry regarding the keeping of different animal species and various activities performed with animals will be revised in the future. ■