Animal welfare in danger: despite millions in sales, no control for hobby breeders!

Animal welfare in danger: despite millions in sales, no control for hobby breeders!

Thousands of hobby breeds for dogs and cats are registered in Austria. These breeders simply have to register with the district administrative authority, without any mandatory checks being carried out. These lax regulations create an environment in which illegal businesses can thrive, report animal protection organizations such as “Four Paws”. According to a parliamentary question from December 2022, there are 3,751 registered dog and 2,611 cat breeders in seven federal states, excluding Vienna and Tyrol.

However, only 26 of these breeders are licensed and subject to legal controls. Given these numbers, it is not surprising that the state is missing out on millions in tax revenue. The reason for this lies in the fact that both sales from hobby breeding and their potential profit expectations are not taxable. “Four Paws” estimates that the annual turnover from the sale of pedigree puppies is over 61 million euros and from the sale of kittens over 36 million euros - all tax-free. Veronika Weissenböck from “Vier Pfoten” describes this development as a blatant grievance.

Criticism of the legislation and its consequences

The animal welfare organization also criticizes the fact that buyers are often cheated. Sick or traumatized animals often come to them with forged documents. Current legislation, described as “lax”, allows such practices under the guise of hobby breeding. A recent amendment to the Animal Welfare Act has further weakened the regulations on hobby breeding; Previously, hobby breeders were allowed to keep a maximum of two reproductive female dogs and four cats. Now there is only a limit on the number of throws.

The lack of control gives official veterinarians little opportunity to check compliance with hobby breeding conditions. “Four Paws” therefore demands that not only breeders requiring a license should be subject to strict requirements. The required measures include regular, mandatory checks and breeding-specific minimum standards for keeping conditions.

Animal husbandry regulations

The Austrian Animal Protection Act (TSchG), which came into force on January 1, 2005 and was last amended in 2022, already contains essential regulations for the protection of pets. For example, dogs and cats are not allowed to be sold or displayed in pet shops, and the import and sale of animals with torture breeding characteristics is prohibited. Violations of these regulations, such as abandoning animals or killing them for no reason, are also prohibited.

The legislation also stipulates that pet owners must have the necessary knowledge and skills to comply with the law. This also means that the animals are kept in a species-appropriate manner, which includes space, freedom of movement and social contacts. The sale of animals to minors under the age of 16 is only permitted with the consent of their legal guardian.

These legal regulations and the improvements demanded by “Vier Pfoten” are intended to help improve the situation for animals in Austria in the long term and to prevent illegal practices in hobby breeding, which affect both animal welfare and tax matters.