Over 700 participants at virtual German-Brazilian animal welfare congress

The German-Brazilian Animal Welfare Congress is regarded as a platform to continue and intensify the dialogue and cooperation between Germany and Brazil on the protection of small animals and farm animals. But the COVID 19 crisis in particular threatens to make the welfare of small and farm animals forgotten. For this reason, this year’s two-day conference took place on 18 and 19 November under the motto “Don’t Forget the Animals”, with almost 1,000 participants in the meantime, as reported by the AHK São Paulo. mc Group took over the communication with the media, drafted press releases and advised the São Paulo Chamber of Commerce and Industry extensively.

“Animal welfare is an important concern of our Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.  Even in Covid-19 times, we are tackling this issue comprehensively: the draft law banning the killing of chickens, the draft for a show ban on dogs with torture breeding characteristics or the restructuring of farm animal husbandry with the establishment of the Borchert Commission are just some of our numerous projects in this area. Whoever wants to achieve more animal protection needs allies who pull together! This is precisely why the virtual animal welfare congress is so important. Because with it you create the platform that makes dialogue possible – across national borders”, says Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

mc Group took over the communication with the media, drafted press releases and advised the São Paulo Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the media landscape. The first day of the congress focused on the protection of farm animals, the second day on the protection of small animals. The experts and speakers dealt intensively and critically with the topics of “hot branding for animal identification” and the associated pain of the animals. Furthermore, the possibilities of pain-free castration of pigs were discussed. The question “why there are no stray, abandoned dogs in Germany, but too many in Brazil” was discussed intensively. Animal shelters and “adoption” of animals play a major role in this context, whereby the very questionable to illegal internet trade in reptiles and amphibians was critically discussed.

Also presented was the “Compendium animales”, the first complete compilation of all animal welfare-related regulations at federal and state level in Brazil. The great interest in animal welfare was also evident in the question and answer session at the end of each day. Among other things, microchips for pets were called for here, so that the abandonment of animals can be avoided. Improved education and training opportunities in special study courses were also discussed and, last but not least, the improvement of German-Brazilian relations through greater understanding and scientific and personal exchange were discussed.

You can download the conference proceedings from the previous year here. More information about the congress can be found here.