The native of the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, a white -arm gibbon, and concluded severely, sells for about € 13,000 ($ 15,250) on the typical black market. A discovery gibbon, named “Jimmy”, spent the months a small cage and forced to wear a diaper. His employed handover was scheduled to be at a supermarket parking lot in Pforzheim, Southern Germany. But instead of a buyer, the seller was met with the police – a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment for the Ethical Treatment for the Ethical Treatment for the Ethical Treatment for the Ethical Treatment for the Ethical Treatment).
The Hogger indicates a disturbing legal flaws: “is a rich black market for business protected species. Foreign animals are openly advertised in WhatsApp groups and pet fairs – even strictly protected people in their country. Their preserved status can be legally sold here, the thesis animals can be legally sold here.
October 4 is World Animal Day – and in 2025, Germany is a special milestone: 100th anniversary of its adherence. This centenary attracts renewed attention to cases such as Jimmy, gibbon, whose prolonged imprisonment gave rise to severe behavioral disorders. Yet Jimmy’s story is just an example. Illegal trade in foreign animals search as monkeys, snakes and lizards.
At the same time, overwelling demand for more familiar companies – Germany is the house of more than 15 million cats and 10 million dogs – sets of their own challenge, with results that extend beyond the pet market.
Online business in animals is booming
“Every month, estimated 17,000 to 20,000 puppies appear on online platforms in Germany,” Hogger told DW. “For dealers and criminal networks, it is a rapid growing business. Many of these animals are included in the horrific conditions in Eastern Europe and other regions before being taken here.” He said that forde documents are now widespread, making it difficult for ordinary buyers to identify that they want to identify inadvertently during special trade.
Sylvia Brehar, the newly appointed Federal Commissioner of Germany, for animal welfare, has been in office for only five weeks – but further challenges proceed. She recognizes the weight of her role, especially given that animal welfare has been vested in the German Constitution since 2002. In a statement to DW, Brehar insisted: “To protect our fellow animals, we need immediate needs and anonymous sale.”
“So there is a need to reduce stress on the shelters of the congested animals,” she says.
Germany is a home of about 1,400 animal shelters, many of which bees have been spread to their limits since the Kovid -19 epidemic. The new coalition government of the Center-Rest Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Center-Left Social Democratic Party (SPD) promised € 80 million in support.
However, budgetary pressure has also reached animal welfare: not a single euro has been given shelter for shelters in the federal budget of 2025, says Lee Shamitz, spokesperson of German Animal Welfare Targe.
“Most of the shelters are working with full capacity and are in dire need of money,” Shamitz told DW, “This is a serious situation, especially when the thesis is not anywhere else for animals to go anywhere else.”
Criticism of Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer
Many animal welfare groups fear that Germany is retreating on its commitments. Most of his criticism is aimed at the aim of the new Agriculture Minister, Alois Rainer, a CSU politician and trained butcher, who is overseeing animal welfare in the ministry. Rener recently shook the controversy, claiming that there is no relation between meat and the consumption of meat.
Sylvia Brehar’s appointment as the Animal Welfare Commissioner has faced criticism, despite that he is recently taken over.
“Silvia Brehar, therefore serves as a Parliamentary Secretary, directly represents the federal minister. This means that he is not independent, even though the freedom is a main requirement for the role of the Animal Welfare Commissioner,” Shamitz said. “As a CDU member of Parliament, she votes on a very law, which she is expecting to assess in her commissioner’s role.”
On January 1, 2022, Germany became the first country in the world to ban the murder of male girls – a historic step champions by animal welfare organizations. However, advocates say whether there is just a initial point. In fact, to realize the constitutional promise of animal protection, they are now calling for extensive reforms, searching as compulsory neutrings of stray cats, banning animals in non-EU countries, and drastically reduction in animal testing.
Conversion stalling in organic farming
Julia Weibel, a PETA specialist for animals in the food industry, asks for a fundamental reconsideration to treat farm animals. She disturbs reproductive practices on some fields: “Holstein Frisian cows are breed for channels near energy in milk production, causing their body to be severely emitted to maximize the yield of meat.
Germany is working for 30% of organic agriculture by 2030. However, by the end of 2024, it achieved only 11.5%. The target means more human animal husbandry, which includes more space in the barn and pastures, and adequate outdoor access. Former Green Party’s former Agriculture Minister Cam özdeemir launched a search program to support the transition to animal-friendly housing. But his successor, raner, are allowing the program to end.
“If we were really planning for future generations, we were cutting back to the livestock number,” said Weibel. “As the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ministry of Agriculture has recently recommended, meat and dairy options should be benefited from reduced and better market access to help make our diet more durable.”
This article was original in German.
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