Ban on Selling Pets to Children in the Offing
THE HAGUE, 08/10/13 - Economic Affairs State Secretary Sharon Dijksma wants to ban the sale of pets to children aged below 16 from next year.
"The buyer must be alive to the care of an animal in the area of food and accommodation. Children cannot make this estimation,” not even with a guinea-pig or goldfish, according to Dijksma. Additionally, she does not want pets to be seen in shop windows any more. “An animal in the shop window is no longer appropriate today.” Dijksma presented more measures in the area of animal welfare, both for pets and for agricultural animals. For example, she wants to ban freeze branding of livestock. Agreements have also been made to limit the pain for goats and calves of being de-horned. Dijksma does not consider that the Netherlands would suffer a competitive disadvantage compared with other European countries by forging ahead with regard to animal friendliness and sustainability. “Particularly in a time of falling raw materials, there is enormous amount of interest here worldwide,” she believes. |
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