Over 30 years ago, my late husband, Bill Travers, travelled across Europe recording evidence of the terrible suffering endured by so many individual creatures in hundreds of zoos. His findings, published as the Zoochotic Report by our charity, then called Zoo Check and now the Born Free Foundation, led directly to the establishment of EU-wide zoo law (the EC zoos directive). This has provided an aspirational framework to address animal suffering and deprivation but has not improved standards as we had hoped, as evidenced by the Born Free Foundation’s EU Zoo Inquiry 2011.
The reality is that millions of animals in zoos, circuses and dolphinariums have been let down by inadequate legislation, poor law enforcement and lack of both knowledge and capacity at member state level. We urgently need a solution to improve the welfare of not only the captive wild animals in our care, but all animals for which we have direct responsibility.
That is why I am asking MEPs to support Written Declaration 22/2015, proposed by Jacqueline Foster MEP, vice-president of the European parliament’s Intergroup for Animal Welfare, recommending a “one-stop shop” for animal welfare within the European Union. A one-stop shop would establish a centralised information point within the European commission, providing much-needed support and capacity-building resources for the 28 EU governments. Rightly, it is their responsibility to protect animals, but without the knowledge and the means to improve standards, I believe little will change.
Last week, the commission made the much-welcomed announcement that it plans to develop an EU action plan on wildlife trafficking – demonstrating that wildlife issues remain a key concern. Now it is time to encourage the commission’s animal welfare unit to focus its competency, broaden its remit and assist EU nations to improve their standards of animal welfare and protection.
Virginia McKenna
Co-founder, Born Free Foundation
