As the Belgian elections approach and the current legislature comes to an end, animal rights organisation GAIA has drawn up its report card on how Belgium's three animal welfare ministers have fared this term.
At the bottom of the leaderboard is Brussels-Capital Region Minister Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI), who failed to push through his flagship animal welfare code, while Flemish minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) came top of the class for getting his parallel welfare code and a number of other measures over the line.
GAIA gave Clerfayt a poor score of 5/20, marking his term as Brussels' Minister of Animal Welfare a "failure". The organisation said that while he announced broad ambitions at the beginning of his ministry, he failed to adopt his animal welfare code.
Minister for Animal Welfare in the Brussels-Capital Region, Bernard Clerfayt. Credit: Belga
GAIA did, however, credit Clerfayt with introducing measures such as a ban on carousels and carriages with equines throughout the Brussels territory, and the establishment of a list of reptiles that can be kept as pets.
Meanwhile, Flemish Minister Ben Weyts received the highest score of 14/20 for his second term overseeing animal welfare. GAIA praised Weyts' Flemish animal welfare code that was recently approved by parliament, as well as more severe sanctions for offences. He also introduced a ban on pony rides and withdrew approval for around 60 puppy mills.
Flemish Minister of Animal Welfare, Ben Weyts. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
Weyts did, however, lose points on GAIA's score sheet for what it said were "glaring shortcomings" in his code, including a failure to ban piglet castration or a policy to release dolphins from captivity, as well as a number of measures left reliant on decisions of the next Flemish government.
Coming in middle of the pack was Wallonia's Animal Welfare Minister Céline Tellier (Ecolo), who was awarded a satisfactory score of 12/20. GAIA said that she had made "notable progress" on pets, including reforming animal breeding and trade as well as introducing pet permits.
Wallonia's Animal Welfare Minister Céline Tellier (Ecolo) was awarded a score of 12/20.
GAIA welcomed Tellier's tightening of rules on turkey breeding and refusal to grant a license for an intensive salmon farm, but said in general her record on animals used for food production and experimentation was insufficient.
"Minister Tellier brought a complete reform of the breeding and trading of pets to Wallonia, and has made pet permits a reality: two important measures that will impact hundreds of thousands of animals. If the results are positive for pets, we would like to see the same for other animals, millions of whom need better living conditions," said Sébastien de Jonge, director of operations at GAIA, in a press release.
For the June elections, GAIA has launched a new website where voters can compare the positions of different political parties and candidates on animal welfare issues, as well as see the organisation's priorities for the next legislature.
