LIVE: Flemish Parliament votes on Flemish codex for animal welfare (Mol)

In recent months, the municipal council of Mol has made numerous attempts to inform the Flemish Minister for Animal Welfare Ben Weyts (N-VA) and all parliamentarians who are members of the Animal Welfare Committee about the importance of the animal market, but that did not change the decision.

The House’s plenary meeting on Thursday night approved by a two-thirds majority the proposal to include animal welfare in the constitution, which should ensure that animals are from now on treated as sentient beings.

Last month, a delegation from the Mole municipal council, the market committee and local catering industry went to the Flemish Parliament to present a petition for the preservation of the animal market, which has already been signed more than 7,000 times. Vlaams Belang previously submitted a proposal to maintain the animal market, but that was also rejected by the Animal Welfare Committee.

“We have followed the logic of the previous ban on the sale of dogs and cats at pet markets to curb impulse purchases. In addition, the transports cause a lot of stress. What applies to dogs and cats also applies to chickens, rabbits and other animals. If you want to purchase an animal, it is better to go to a shelter or pet shop. Today it is perfectly possible that Moses goes to the mountain instead of the other way around,” the minister said during the hearing.

“There has been a lot of commotion in recent weeks about the trading of animals at markets that are still organized a maximum of eight times a year,” says Els Sterckx of Vlaams Belang. “As a result, animal markets that are organized more often, as is the case in Mol, are in danger of disappearing. On Sunday the animal market in Mol celebrated its 140th anniversary. I had a conversation with the aldermen to listen to their concerns, but they reiterated that there was never any consultation with you (Minister Weyts ed.).”

“The codex actually opens the door to more animal markets, because new markets are still allowed to be added, as long as they are only organized eight times a year,” says Els Sterckx of Vlaams Belang. Proposals have already been put forward to organize animal markets eight times a year under different names. That is why we propose to only allow professional animal markets to take place twice a month under the supervision of a veterinarian appointed by the animal welfare department, so that there is control and no new animal markets are created. When political games become more important than animal welfare, this is a painful thing for the animals.”

Bart Dochy (CD&V) also advocates a positive evolution of cultural customs such as the Mole animal market. “The animal market brings many people together and the sellers take good care of the animals. The chance of impulse purchases is reduced because it is a weekly occurrence.”

“It is difficult to understand that animal markets are still allowed eight times a year. The arguments such as stress during transport and impulse purchases to ban the animal market suddenly no longer seem to apply. This update makes it painfully clear that Flanders will not become a pioneer in animal welfare. The codex is one big cheese with holes in it and the minister’s ambition mainly shows a lot of chest-thumping with delay and turning away behavior, which means that animal suffering will simply continue to exist,” says Meyrem Almaci (Green). “It is good that the codex is there, but it is a slow process.”

“Today we celebrate our ten-year competence in animal welfare,” says Minister of Animal Welfare Ben Weyts (N-VA). “The codex is a icing on the cake, but it is certainly not perfect. Based on all interventions, it goes too far for some and not far enough for others. Within the framework of a government, agreements must be made to make progress. We are making great strides forward, but do not want to make haste by also working with extinguishing measures. We are not radically saying that animal markets should no longer be organized, but we are showing some flexibility. We are not blind and deaf to the abrupt nature of measures, which means we still allow the market eight times a year. We follow the example of the previous 1996 ban on the sale of dogs and cats at markets to avoid impulse purchases. What applies to dogs and cats also applies to rabbits and chickens.”

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READ ALSO. Mole residents react disappointed to decision on animal market: “The fact that the birthday also immediately becomes a farewell is terrible”